Better "grease life" for the bearings??

[Rob74]

I'm Looking to get better "grease life" for the bearings in a road bike daily commuter that gets ridden in all weather good bad & down right ugly plus my Mountain bike that gets ridden off road in dusty conditions most weekends.

=>> What Grease do you use for Bicycle Cup & Cone Bearings eg for Shimano Hubs, old style head sets & cage bearing bottom brackets ...??

A) Castrol HTB light brown in colour cheap & non water proof (like the LBS)
http://www.castrol.com/castrol/multiple ... Id=7000402

"Castrol HTB Non-Soap Base Grease
A virtually non-melting bentone based grease for front wheel bearings in disc brake passenger vehicles operating at very high temperatures."

A bentone clay based grease particularly suitable for very high temperature applications. Recommended for use in wheel bearings in disc brakes.


or
B) Castrol Boating Dark Blue in colour still reasonably priced, extra corrosion resistance
http://www.castrol.com/castrol/multiple ... Id=6008788

"Castrol Boating Grease
A general purpose grease ideal for greasing on both inboard and outboard engines, boat fittings as well as for wheel bearings fitted to boat trailers.
"
Boating
Castrol recommend Boating Grease for boat trailer bearings. Owners must recognize that the entry of water into bearings causes rust and wear. We recommend cleaning and packing of bearings at least every 6 months.
NO GREASE CAN COMPENSATE FOR INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE.

or
C) Buzzy's Slick Honey All Purpose Grease
"16Oz" = $25 from Jensen

or
D) http://www.parktool.com/product/polylub ... tube-ppl-1
"PolyLube 1000 has an extremely high shear strength to protect vital parts under extreme conditions. PolyLube 1000 also repels moisture and is compatible with conventional greases."


Others have an opinion
http://forums.mtbr.com/beginners-corner ... 79004.html

http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/quest ... -for-bikes
"Point is that the "bike specific" greases generally aren't.
As far as functional necessities:
* Not too thin - A thin grease, like Slick Honey, will run very smooth, but only for a very short time. If you want ideal performance, and don't mind overhauling your bike every couple weeks, use this.
* Not too sticky - Motorcycle/Automotive type bearing grease tends to be very sticky and very thick. They are designed to thin out at higher levels of heat and friction than a bicycle will reach. So it will last a long time, but will feel tight, and add friction to your bearings.

Generally, buy a tube of Phil Wood or Park tool grease, and feel free to use anything with a similar purity and consistency in the future."

*********************
For my bike the original stuff from the OEM Bike factory was unknown...I've repacked all bearings a few times now over the last few years I have used CASTROL HTB but it does not appear to fair well with wet conditions. So this time I have swapped over to "CASTROL Boating Grease" and will see how that goes?
=>> Thoughts/experiences welcome??

Rob.

[Nobody]

Shimano's original grease (the light green translucent stuff) looks pretty thick to me. I'd say the Castrol marine grease would be the way to go. I use it on most assembled parts and find it doesn't wash out fast.

[mitzikatzi]

Bel-ray-waterproof-grease

Bel-Ray Waterproof Grease is the legendary high-performance, multi-purpose grease. Superior water resistance, even in salt water, will ensure continued sealing and protection. Perfect for wheel bearings, headsets, shock linkages, swing arm pivots and other motorcycle, ATV, snowmobile and marine chassis lubrication points. Due to its aluminum complex formula, it won't melt or run out. Enhanced mechanical stability and special anti-wear additives protect and lubricate bearings for improved performance.

[gururug]

Boating grease is good, I find that tainting/fouling is more of an issue than moisture ingress or it being washed out.

It is a little viscous compared to tailored solutions out there. Manufacturers and shops use thicker grease for a longer service life with minimal increased drag and much higher cost.

The shimano green stuff or lithium? greases are probably best for long life. Having said that, how the grease is applied and contained probably has a far bigger impact on the life rather than the grease type itself. In addition to how often it is cleaned out.

[familyguy]

I use the blue boating grease on pretty much all my wheels, BB's, headsets, and seat post & stem insertions, including on the kids bikes. The HTB really only gets used for stem and crank bolts, and QR skewers. I do have some supertechnogrease I used for a few things like headsets and installation of BB cups on a couple of bikes (cant remember what its called). No difference to the boating in terms of how long its lasted.

Jim

[il padrone]

Not sure where I'd use grease these days on my bike. Hub bearings are all sealed units with long life-spans, cartridge BB, headset is FSA with cartridge bearings, QR for the front dynohub is 'not to be greased'...............

Ahah! Pedals. Time pedals have servicable bearings (I think), never got around to pulling them down so far. Pedals are always the most neglected bearings on a bike.

Grease the seat post I guess, and grease the tapers on my square taper cranks.

[rtnicho]

+1 for Castrol blue marine grease - been using it for years on a dozen or so oldy rebuilds and repairs. It's a bit expensive tho- $12 for 20 years worth of grease

[silentbutdeadly]

I use Morey's EP-MP2 because my bearing shop said it was the nuts ducks for this sort of application. Given that it is more frequently used on neglected but critical farming components in my part of the world and it was/is well respected...I figured it'd work just fine in a well maintained bicycle. So far this has proved to be the case.

http://www.moreyoil.co.nz/moreys-grease-ep-mp2/

[Stuey]

I use Castrol HTB, but mainly because it was already in my shed from car bearing jobs. If I was to buy some new, I'd use the boating grease, because I can also use that on my fishing reels!

[missinglink]

I use general purpose automotive wheel bearing grease. I purchased a 500 ml tin 20 years ago and it will last a lifetime if kept clean.

[Rob74]

Thanks for feedback

Summary so far is:
Castrol Boating or Marine Grease = +5
Belray = +1
Moreys = +1
Castrol HTB or Standard Bearing Grease = +2

I'll run with Castrol Boating for now,
* 150km on commuter
* 30km on MTB
=>> Castrol Boating "Blue" seems to be performing well. No going milky, too early to tell WRT washout.

Rob.

[RonK]

molydenum disulphide, lithium-based. Contains rust and oxidisation inhibitors.

[bigfriendlyvegan]

Was buying grease in Bunnings years ago and the helpful shop guy was a bike shop employee part time as well. He put me onto the marine grease with the white lithium stuff in it. Big tub cost about $12. Use a syringe as a grease gun. Good for what ails you.

[bychosis]

Was buying grease in Bunnings years ago and the helpful shop guy was a bike shop employee part time as well. He put me onto the marine grease with the white lithium stuff in it. Big tub cost about $12. Use a syringe as a grease gun. Good for what ails you.

+1 for castrol marine grease. I went to the LBS and asked for some good bike grease, he said just go to the auto parts joint and get the castrol stuff.

+1 also for the syringe I'm using a 50mm cost about$1 at the pharmacy. It's a pain in the proverbvial to fill it up, but you dont reall use much on a bike and takes ages to empty.

[bosvit]

I use Morey's EP-MP2 because my bearing shop said it was the nuts ducks for this sort of application. Given that it is more frequently used on neglected but critical farming components in my part of the world and it was/is well respected...I figured it'd work just fine in a well maintained bicycle. So far this has proved to be the case.

http://www.moreyoil.co.nz/moreys-grease-ep-mp2/

+1

We got talked into buying Morey's Super Red Premium Waterproof Grease for our grape harvesters. We previously used Castrol Marine grease (the thick blue stuff)

This stuff is not cheap, considering we were going through about a canister a day.

Average bearing life went from 500 hrs to 800 hrs. Grape harvesters are subjected to massive amounts of heat, vibration, acid, water and dirt. Everything that a bearing loves!

The biggest difference I noticed was when a bearing failed. With the Castrol (which is a very good grease) the first thing you heard was the bearing squealing and then the knock when if failed. With the Morey's the first thing you heard was the knock.

IMO it is the best 'lack of grease' grease on the market. By that I mean if the bearing is under greased it will survive much longer with the Morey's red than any other grease I have used. Inc Castrol Marine/Hi temp etc and ProMa amongst the better contenders. Almost all of the harvest contractors in McLaren Vale were using this stuff on their harvesters.

Now weather this means it is the best grease for low impact (by comparison) bike bearings I am not so sure.

All my bikes are pretty much sealed bearings. It did stop my BB30 bottom bracket from squealing under load, but any of the others may have done just as good a job.

The only wheel set I greased up with this stuff was a crappy set of Alex A450's on my Trek 1000 and they went from horrible to just plain crap.

Hope this helps

[ironhanglider]

---snip---
+1 for castrol marine grease. I went to the LBS and asked for some good bike grease, he said just go to the auto parts joint and get the castrol stuff.

+1 also for the syringe I'm using a 50mm cost about$1 at the pharmacy. It's a pain in the proverbvial to fill it up, but you dont reall use much on a bike and takes ages to empty.

+1 Another Castrol marine blue user here
+1 another syringe as applicator too. I find it easy enough to fill though, just put the tub in the sun to soften up a bit for a while and suck it up like it were a liquid.

Cheers,

Cameron

[Mulger bill]

+1 another syringe as applicator too. I find it easy enough to fill though, just put the tub in the sun to soften up a bit for a while and suck it up like it were a liquid.

Cheers,

Cameron

BRILLIANT!!! No more mess when filling, thanks Cameron.

Shaun

[Stuey]

We got talked into buying Morey's Super Red Premium Waterproof Grease for our grape harvesters. We previously used Castrol Marine grease (the thick blue stuff)...Hope this helps

Certainly does. Nothing like an industrial test to prove things. Now, where do you buy it (what type of shop)? I'm thinking for the fishing reels too (I have 9 of 'em).

[bosvit]

We got talked into buying Morey's Super Red Premium Waterproof Grease for our grape harvesters. We previously used Castrol Marine grease (the thick blue stuff)...Hope this helps

Certainly does. Nothing like an industrial test to prove things. Now, where do you buy it (what type of shop)? I'm thinking for the fishing reels too (I have 9 of 'em).

And it wasn't one or two bearings either.

We used Morey's for a good 4 years and probably replaced about 15-20 bearings most years.

We used to buy it from Cracker Holdings not sure if they are still around.

You may have to do an internet search.