Best Bottom bracket lube?

[cwayne]

In May I bought a Wilier Zero 9 and have had numerous creaks. I seem to have them all fixed but the one that keeps coming back is the creak from the BB. It seems to start after riding in heavy rain or I spray down the bike with a hose, it comes back. So I pull the cranks, clean thoroughly, lube with tons of grease and reinstall. Creak fades until next time. That leads me to the question, am I using the wrong grease? I have been using park tools polylube 1000 the whole time. It's a press fit BB386 and I have SRAM Red GXP cranks. Thanks in advance.

[Charles M]

Nothing wrong with that lube at all. Make sure you have a light coat on all surfaces and leave a little extra around the bearing surfaces and on the outside as a little weather shield...

[oldpotatoe]

In May I bought a Wilier Zero 9 and have had numerous creaks. I seem to have them all fixed but the one that keeps coming back is the creak from the BB. It seems to start after riding in heavy rain or I spray down the bike with a hose, it comes back. So I pull the cranks, clean thoroughly, lube with tons of grease and reinstall. Creak fades until next time. That leads me to the question, am I using the wrong grease? I have been using park tools polylube 1000 the whole time. It's a press fit BB386 and I have SRAM Red GXP cranks. Thanks in advance.

BB386 is the issue and how tight the frame bb tolerances are(probably not very).

Watch this

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/09/video/ask-a-mechanic-different-bottom-bracket-standards_346436

[cwayne]

Thanks. Given the type or brand of lube, pulling the cranks four times in just over 3400 miles is kind of crazy. It may be a good idea to change it.

[abalone]

Uh oh. The problem isn't with the cranks or type of lube. I think oldpotatoe is right. The problem is the frame. Your frame has a press-fit BB shell. If the tolerances of that BB shell are not perfect, and this is actually quite common even with the most expensive top brands, then the bottom bracket can move and flex a tiny bit within your frame's BB shell. End result is creaking.

[ultraman6970]

You live in FL, have you tried lithium grease?? works better than others in humid environments.

As for the BB, have you tried to use one of those threaded sleeves from wheels manufacturing???

[cwayne]

Good info and no I haven't tried lithium or the BB sleeve but will look into it. I looked at the sleeve for my Tarmac a while back but never did anything. That frame never creaked as consistently.

[Highpowernut]

I love that video, not an engineer, but gives them good advice, the engineers should listen .