to be honest, if you're not educated about grease too well, you could just follow with these basic guidelines. some might disagree with me, but you have to understand at in different places (different temperature, humidity, etc) can actually affect the type of grease that is ideal for use. what i list here is the generic, basic needs
you'd need only three different products for a reasonably good performance: a grease with teflon, a grease WITHOUT teflon (preferably with less water, things such as copper grease, anti seize, ti prep are all in this category), and lastly, lubricant. also a cameo appearance for any citric based cleaner/WD-40
for all the THREADS AND BOLTS, on the seatpost, on crankarms/pedal bosses, use the GREASE WITHOUT TEFLON. The purpose of the grease is only to mainly create a layer between the two metals so that they do not come into direct contact and seize up, and also to smoothen the tightening. Teflon grease is not neccesary and could be bad for older parts as it encourages slipping.
for bearings, you could use the GREASE WITH TEFLON. The thickness of the grease would partially determine your rolling resistance, the thicker, the 'slower' you'd feel rolling. (but honestly, unless you're really, really anal about the rolling and already run super high tire pressure, it doesn't make a difference in riding). Thicker grease is usually better at preventing water sipping into the bearings hence less maintainence, it would be more ideal for hotter climates as the temperature makes it more 'runny' and there's a bit less rolling resistance. Thinner grease is more 'runny' than thick ones in cold weather, but water sips in a bit quicker. Remember that all bearings warm up a little after you ride for a few minutes and the rolling resistance is brought down to a minimal, so i always recommend getting a thick teflon grease for bearings.
as for LUBRICANTS, i'm talking about the dripping wet type stuff. you should go for the thinner stuff for better performance, those 'winter wax' style lubricants are good if you always keep an eye on stuff but when it dries a little, they gunk up and get a bit messy. with the thin, dripping wet lube, you can use it to soak the shit out of your cable inner, and the inside of the cable house. trust me, it makes a world of difference. as for the cable nipple and the area on the brake lever that houses it, use either grease there.
for the chain, i don't recommend wax due to it gunking up over time, what you should do is spray the fuck out of it with citric cleaner or WD-40, to the point that it only drips out the solution as clean as you spray into it (make sure not to spary onto bearings!! best would be to take the chain OFF the bike to do it). after you sprayed it clean, LET IT DRY for about 30 minutes before you put it back on, and put lube on it. wet up the whole chain and work it into the rollers, then use an old cloth to wipe the outside off of excess. the chain is the one area that you should add lube on a weekly basis. when you add lube, all you need is to drip lube onto the chain while backpedalling.
if you're not able to buy the two types of different grease, it's safer to just buy one big tub of copper grease/lithium grease, and use it for all applications (including bearings). remember that the thicker the grease, the less chance of water seeping in. also, copper grease is known as anti-seize as well, and make sure you're extra generous when it comes to titanium contact points
Topic: Lube, Grease, and Whatnot (Read 86932 times)
