Which grease...?

[huwsparky]

Hi

Looking to give my bike a bit of TLC ready for the winter. One job that I know that I could with having done and that's servicing the headset.

Been on GCN and as I thought it's a simple enough job with a minimal of tools required. The guy in the video mentioned that he used Teflon grease. Just had a look on wiggle and a 450g odd pot is £20!!!

I'm kind of getting the feeling that this is a typical rip off the cyclist because they'll pay whatever kind of thing! Just looking for other people's experiences in maintaining their own bikes and what they use for this job?

If also like to know what else I could do with looking at whilst I'm at it. Wheels, bb's etc?

My bike is a year old Giant Defy and done almost 4000 miles with the wheels which I've upgraded having done about 2.5k miles.

Cheers.

 

[Drago]

Any decent lithium or moly based grease from the local car factors will be just fine at £4 for a big tub. I prefer moly myself as it has a molecular affinity with steel, but lithium is equally fine.

 

[huwsparky]

Any decent lithium or moly based grease from the local car factors will be just fine at £4 for a big tub. I prefer moly myself as it has a molecular affinity with steel, but lithium is equally fine.

Thanks for that. Don't want to be paying £20 for a tiny tub of grease!

 

[Dayvo]

I use this http://weldtite.co.uk/products/detail/grease-gun-grease-with-teflon-tube-150ml but don't know the price of the products in England.

 

[Svendo]

I've found lithium grease can dry out. I'm not an expert on lubes but stopped using it on fit and forget bolts eg bottle cage. I also try to remember to at least undo and re tighten bolts occasionally to ensure they don't seize. I'll never be the sort to regularly strip and reassemble a bike so need as close to 'grease and forget' as possible.
I'm currently using a stringy water proof bearing grease for nearly all greasy needs. I'll add the name when I'm home. I got it as my old bikes headset kept getting the grease washed out.

 

[Citius]

There aren't really any user-servicable parts in the Defy headset, tbh. The bearings are sealed cartridges, and unless they actually need replacing (and you'd probably know if they did) I would just leave it be.

If you're buying grease anyway - buy anything.

 

[huwsparky]

There aren't really any user-servicable parts in the Defy headset, tbh. The bearings are sealed cartridges, and unless they actually need replacing (and you'd probably know if they did) I would just leave it be.

If you're buying grease anyway - buy anything.

I don't really think the bearings need replacing as it runs smooth enough. I'd like to give it a good clean and apply some fresh grease as I have a brown residue running down the fork which i was thinking was down to a years with of grime collecting inside and probably not doing anything any good.

 

[Citius]

The brown residue could be emulsified grease from a leaking seal - in which case they might well need replacing...

 

[DaveReading]

Whatever type/brand you finally settle on, you should try to stick to it.

 

[huwsparky]

The brown residue could be emulsified grease from a leaking seal - in which case they might well need replacing...

I'll strip it and take a look.

Cheers.