I have had a jar of black grease that I got somewhere in Australia about
50 years ago that I have used to grease threads on screws and bolts etc.
It is now definitively empty. I do have a little jar I got from my local
bike shop of what I think is vaseline for greasing bearings. Is there
any reason not to use that to grease bolt threads?

What do you lot use for bearings, and is there any difference between
different grease types?

--
Dieter Britz

On 9/17/2022 6:11 AM, db wrote:
> I have had a jar of black grease that I got somewhere in
> Australia about
> 50 years ago that I have used to grease threads on screws
> and bolts etc.
> It is now definitively empty. I do have a little jar I got
> from my local
> bike shop of what I think is vaseline for greasing bearings.
> Is there
> any reason not to use that to grease bolt threads?
>
> What do you lot use for bearings, and is there any
> difference between
> different grease types?
>

Yes, there are thousands of grease products. Vaseline is not
a good bearing lubricant for bicycle components.

Any auto parts store will have a selection. Ideally look for
something marked 'ball bearing'. You don't need 'high temp'
brake grease which doesn't move as well in ball bearing systems.

We prefer white greases because we can see dirt inclusion
better on next service but technically the color doesn't
matter. There are some excellent molybdenum greases which
are black for example.

We use a 130 weight ball bearing grease here.
http://www.yellowjersey.org/LUB130.JPG
105/107 are a little thin but OK. The 630 series are stiffer
but again OK. Anything within that span is fine.

And I'm only discussing bicycle hubs and crank bearings. For
bolts, seatposts and so on any oil-based lubricant works,
including Vaseline.

--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 8:23:30 AM UTC-4, AMuzi wrote:
> And I'm only discussing bicycle hubs and crank bearings. For
> bolts, seatposts and so on any oil-based lubricant works,
> including Vaseline.
>
> --
> Andrew Muzi
> <www.yellowjersey.org/>
> Open every day since 1 April, 1971

I don't like putting any fasteners together dry, especially one that comes apart.

I had a can of moly anti-seize that worked pretty well. But I've also used teflon tape for a couple of applications. Is that ever useful on a bike? To my surprise it resists heat enough to use on shotgun chokes and outboard motors.

AMuzi wrote:
> On 9/17/2022 6:11 AM, db wrote:
>> I have had a jar of black grease that I got somewhere in
>> Australia about
>> 50 years ago that I have used to grease threads on screws
>> and bolts etc.
>> It is now definitively empty. I do have a little jar I got
>> from my local
>> bike shop of what I think is vaseline for greasing bearings.
>> Is there
>> any reason not to use that to grease bolt threads?

Yes, if might be too "slippery."

If they sold it to you for the purpose of greasing bearings, it probably
is not really vaseline. But what do I know? You could always head
back, ask them, and ride home with a fresh assortment of specialized
jars and tubes to grease bearings, to keep water from freezing to
cables, to ensure respect from lifetime Campagnolo fans, to easily pass
through thin grease gun nozzles, to not alter friction coefficients too
much, to prevent titanium from seizing, to include wonder compounds to
eliminate mystery noises from somewhere you have not been able to
locate, to be plastics- AND dolphin-friendly, etc.
;-)

>> What do you lot use for bearings, and is there any
>> difference between
>> different grease types?
>>
> Yes, there are thousands of grease products. Vaseline is not
> a good bearing lubricant for bicycle components.
>
> Any auto parts store will have a selection. Ideally look for
> something marked 'ball bearing'. You don't need 'high temp'
> brake grease which doesn't move as well in ball bearing systems.

<https://www.liqui-moly.com/sv/se/lm-47-langtidsfett-mos2-p000371.html#3510>
Common here in the auto-parts aisles; probably overpriced, but compared
to grease that's boutique-marketed as "ebike-grade" ....

> We prefer white greases because we can see dirt inclusion
> better on next service

+1

> but technically the color doesn't
> matter. There are some excellent molybdenum greases which
> are black for example.

In the cases of graphite and MoS2, doesn't excellence also depend on the
color of socks and on who's doing the laundry?

> We use a 130 weight ball bearing grease here.
> http://www.yellowjersey.org/LUB130.JPG
> 105/107 are a little thin but OK. The 630 series are stiffer
> but again OK. Anything within that span is fine.

These weight ratings on grease tubes seem less common in Europe.

--
"Science 2022:
If 8 mice get well, then your product is approved from the FDA!"

On Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 7:11:10 AM UTC-4, db wrote:
> I have had a jar of black grease that I got somewhere in Australia about
> 50 years ago that I have used to grease threads on screws and bolts etc.
> It is now definitively empty. I do have a little jar I got from my local
> bike shop of what I think is vaseline for greasing bearings. Is there
> any reason not to use that to grease bolt threads?
>
> What do you lot use for bearings, and is there any difference between
> different grease types?
>
> --
> Dieter Britz

I use anti-seize for securing things that aren't supposed to move, and synthetic grease for stuff that is supposed to move.

On Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 8:54:25 AM UTC-4, timoth...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 8:23:30 AM UTC-4, AMuzi wrote:
>
> > And I'm only discussing bicycle hubs and crank bearings. For
> > bolts, seatposts and so on any oil-based lubricant works,
> > including Vaseline.
> >
> > --
> > Andrew Muzi
> > <www.yellowjersey.org/>
> > Open every day since 1 April, 1971
> I don't like putting any fasteners together dry, especially one that comes apart.
>
> I had a can of moly anti-seize that worked pretty well. But I've also used teflon tape for a couple of applications. Is that ever useful on a bike? To my surprise it resists heat enough to use on shotgun chokes and outboard motors.
I've tried that in the past. It worked reasonably well, but isn't designed to be used on fasteners that require setting to a specified torque range. It's best for things you want to just crank down as tight as you can get it. The issue is that the tape will continue to "set" after you reach the specified torque which in turn decreases the holding force over time. Sure you could 'retorque' on a regular basis, but using an anti-seize grease keeps it pretty close the first time, and any 'retorqueing' usually only needs to be done once. Teflon tape isn't a good idea for seatposts at all. Teflon tape is designed to allow a very high torque while also filling voids to create a seal - which is why it's really good for NPT threads on low-pressure plumbing. Stick with anti-seize as assembly lube.

On Sat, 17 Sep 2022 13:11:06 +0200, db <dieterhansbritz@gmail.com>
wrote:

>I have had a jar of black grease that I got somewhere in Australia about
>50 years ago that I have used to grease threads on screws and bolts etc.
>It is now definitively empty. I do have a little jar I got from my local
>bike shop of what I think is vaseline for greasing bearings. Is there
>any reason not to use that to grease bolt threads?
>
>What do you lot use for bearings, and is there any difference between
>different grease types?

Yes there is a difference in various grease types (:-)

Greasing threads may provide some lubrication but basically it is an
anti corrosion coating to avoid the screws "freezing" in the holes.

Note here... sometimes the torque value for (usually) large nuts and
bolts is given for lubricated (greased or oiled) threads.

As a lubricant see
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=ideas-and-advice/greases-guide
--
Cheers,

John B.