Swapped to synthetic grease in my hubs 6 months ago, here's what the bearings look like now

I rebuilt my old Shimano hubs back in February with some basic Phil Wood waterproof grease. Rode through a wet spring here in Portland, about 400 miles of rain and grit. Pulled the cones off last night to check preload and the bearings looked almost brand new. No pitting, no discoloration, just a thin film of grayish grease. The old petroleum stuff I used to use would have been black and runny by now. Has anyone else seen that big of a difference switching to synthetic? Or am I just getting lucky with the conditions?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_kelly434d ago

Aw man, here we go again with the miracle grease claims. I bet if you pulled the same hub apart after a good Pacific Northwest winter you'd see different results. Six months of Portland's "wet spring" is just a drizzle compared to what these things actually deal with.

terry_jones4d ago

My buddy Dave ran that exact same Phil Wood synthetic in his Sturmey Archer hub. 4000 miles through a full Boston winter. Salt, slush, the works. @charles_kelly43 would've bet money on it being toast. Pulled it apart last month and the cage was still clean, grease just a little dark. Not even any grit in there. He's basically a convert now.