What are the differences?
There is no way bike grease needs to with temperatures that car wheel bearings see with disc brakes.
Viscosity of most auto greases seems higher - so maybe bearing grease will be different, but for lubing of seat stems and threads, does it matter?
jkh2828,
There are multiple factors to evaluate. Bearing load, temperature range, conditions (wet/dry), seal composition, etc.
Why not just get some Phil Woods grease and quit worrying?
I have Phil Wood, good stuff, just expensive. I bought a tub of regular grease for $2.50.
Partially a curiousity question. Plus, this stuff is thicker and might actually be better on threads, if I don’t use anti-seize.
anti seize and grease are different things. depends what kind of auto grease you are talking about but bike grease is usually light lithium grease.
I use anti-seize on pedal threads.
crease on seat posts
the auto grease is molybdenum based.
why do bike bearings get a different grease than car bearings?
I just hope that everyone reading this now knows what we sound like to everyone else when we try to explain why we spend $5000 on bicycles and why Dura Ace is better than Sora. Trying to compare “bicycle” grease and “car” grease is so laughable I don’t know where to start. But as a quick primer, grease is really just an oil with some sort of base carrier (lithium, etc) to keep it from being a liquid. As already mentioned, the operating conditions and equipment are why there are variations. Bike bearings see different speeds, loads, tolerances in the bearing clearances, temperatures, amounts of water penetration, types of seal materials, and so on. The grease manufacturers optimize the grease for these differnet conditions. The amounts of different greases on the market is thousands and thousands. I have spent quite a few years in industrial maintenance and my grease cabinet at work right now has over 40 types of grease in it, for different applications, and* *I am in a small factory with less than $75 million of equipment. I have one grease which is over $500 for 500g. Even with this much variation, I still use Phil Wood on the bike, and grease is NOT anti-seize.
Quote: “I just hope that everyone reading this now knows what we sound like to everyone else when we try to explain why we spend $5000 on bicycles and why Dura Ace is better than Sora.”
Trippertim,
I couldn’t agree more. I just thought you were going somewhere else. Like how someone will spend $3,000 to $5,000+ on a bike, another $1,000+ on wheels, $400-$500+ on other aero/race/training gear and then try to get cheap and use xyz grease that is formulated for something entirely different than for use in bicycles because it is less expensive than bike grease. A one pint tub (more than lifetime supply for single cyclist) of automotive wheel bearing grease, optimized for a specific use, approx. $3.00. A 6 ounce tube (again, probably lifetime supply) of bike grease optimized for a specific use, approx. $7.00. Savings equals approximately $4.00 lifetime. Sounds like dollar wise and penny foolish to me.
Why does bike grease cost more? Let’s see. Ummm, how many automobiles use wheel bearing grease? How many bikes use grease? How much of each type grease is manufacturered? What does it cost to package each type grease? Cost per unit of grease sold must be amortized over the total number of units sold. Is bike grease really that much more expensive that one must find an alternative less expensive grease?
I’m curious, what is this person using instead of gasoline now that the price of gasoline is approx. $3.00 per gallon? I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they are drinking bottled water, because they believe it is more “pure” than tap water. Cost per gallon for bottled water approx. $8.00/gallon. Go figure.
My point isn’t about cost.
My point is about application. Why is Phil Wood best for ALL applications on a bike? There are certainly many different uses for grease on a bike: bearings, threads, seat posts, pedals etc.
Is it possible all these various uses require the SAME Phil Wood grease? Or, would some applications actually benefit more from a different type of grease? eg. Automotive CVJ/Bearing grease? How are the threads on a bottom bracket for instance, so specialized that they require a unique “bicycle grease?”
Perhaps someone can help me better understand the characteristic of different greases in terms of formulations and applications.
Most people dont want to keep 5 kinds of grease in their toolbox. The most important area for performance is the bearing, thus bicycle grease is optimized for this function. In places like threads, you could probably use something slightly better but it wont make you faster and the improvement is minimal. The only exception is titanium, where the parts can fuse if you dont use anti-seize.
Quote: “Why is Phil Wood best for ALL applications on a bike?”
jkh2828,
Phil Wood’s grease is waterproof (won’t wash out of a hub or bottom bracket or jockey pulley if it gets really wet) and is specifically formulated for cycling uses. It is an excellent premium grease for cycling applications.