Lube and Grease recomendations

[515mm]

I was watching Paul Hewitt of Hewitt Cycles build a bike t'other day. I asked him what grease he had in the bloody big tub he was using. 'Ordinary brown grease' came the reply. Suffixed with the observation that out of the bikes he has in to service/renovate that have been abandoned in a garage for years, the ones where common or garden motor trade grease has been used, are the ones which don't have seized pedals, seatposts etc. 'Nuff said

Oh, apparently, a motor factors shop will be cheaper than Halfords

 

[beancounter]

I use Wurth dry chain lube on my motorbike chains, will this be any good on my pushbike?

bc

 

[Milo]

Never used wax so cant comment but some doubt its lubricating ability.

 

[Fab Foodie]

CHains...
The important bit to have lube is INSIDE THE ROLLERS!!!!
Chains stretch because of wear on the oins/rollers interface, NOT the outside visible surfaces
Does wax penetrate to the inner pins?

Also I think the "Too much oil causing grinding paste" is overplayed. Splash plenty on and wipe the excess off... repeat frequently. Too much is better than not enough.

Never use those degreasing machines.

Oh, and Vaseline works fine as a grease in bearings.

 

[Bromptonaut]

Tub of Filtrate Plus graphited grease I bought from LBS in Guiseley Leeds in 1977 is still half full; it does the job.

 

[mickle]

Cheap grease is oil mixed with soap. FACT.

They might mix other stuff into it, graphite, lithium, teflon, whatever, but it's still just oil and the soap stops it dribbling out. If you leave it long enough the volatile compounds evaporate off leaving mostly soap, which is why old bikes dragged from sheds after twenty years munch their bearings within a few miles, though the bearings appear to be full of grease.

 

[Nick1979]

Chain: Finishline Cross Country

Load it up into a 'needle point' grease gun and you are ready to go. For years and years. And all for less than some fancy repackaged specialist bicycle grease.

How do these grease guns work? Does it need a specific sort of tube of grease to be used with, or can I use any can of grease?
Do you mean something like http://www.parker-international.co....yID/56/v/74b86a9a-721d-43bd-86c8-2d39a828d485 ??

 

[Tharg2007]

looks like those grease guns fit onto a small tube of grease so unless you are buying expensive bike grease in a tube it would be useless.

I was thinking about this and how I could get the all purpose car grease into a point, the car grease gun products seem huge so im wondering if a simple syringe from the chemist will do.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

To get any sort of grease into one of the 'all metal' needle point grease guns, you just push the empty barrel down over the hole in the inner cover on the tub of grease and it squirts up into the gun, pushing the sliding plunger along as it goes.

(Perhaps not the best description but the best I can mange!)

Alternatively, spoon it in with a .... spoon.

Obviously reusing the ones designed to be used with like a toothpaste tube of grease would need more ingenuity.

 

[Nick1979]

Oh ok, so the kind of gun you talk about has a grease 'tank' of its own, right? Do you know where to find such a gun? (B&Q or similar maybe?)

 

[Tharg2007]

these guns are quite big and they dont come with a needlepoint attachment, you have to get it separately and it can all get a bit expensive for something you only use once in a while.
I recon a big syringe from the chemist would do, stick the end in to the tub of grease and suck it up into the syringe.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=12126

Even this "Pace" branded model is only £11 from Evans. The unbranded item is made by Dualco and they are much less. Seems a reasonable price as it's the easiest way to handle grease in all situations, not just where there is a grease port.

 

[Tharg2007]

now that is nice, does it come with grease already in it and is it refillable or does it take a canister.
Will phone evans tomorrow and get the info.
nice find!!

 

[Tim Bennet.]

It's refillable as described above.