To Refurbish Or Leave Alone?? Hubs and BB after 25 Yrs

Bobspoons

Dirt Disciple
So..
Im wanting to get my 1989 mtb back into pretty good condition.

As it stands, its already in very good condition and perfectly ridable. Seems pretty much great (but what do I know)
But over Xmas I want to give it a bit of TLC.

Things I am going to do:
1: New tyres (the 25 year old ones are splitting a little on the sides)
2: Tighten front deraileur cable (5min job but needs doing)
3: Realign front bakes (5min job but needs doing)

But heres where I am unsure:

I dont know whether to dismantle and regrease the wheel hubs and/or the bottom bracket.
Should I consider that they seem to be working fine (as far as I can tell) and thus as sealed units if it isnt broken dont try and fix it and just leave alone.
Or...
Should I think that after 25 years, even though the bike has never been hard-ridden, really its about time to dismantle and regrease those bits?

Im just not sure if the hubs and BB are things I should definately do or definately leave alone.
Other than spinning them and guessing, how do I actually guess if they need relubrication or not. Is it a case of doing a hand-spin and if it goes around on its own say 4 times its good enough?

Ive never done hubs or bb before, but am generally ok with mechanical applications.

So should I leave well alone or should I definately be doing these?

Opinions and/or advice appreciated :)

My thanks for reading

Alex ( Bobspoons )
 
Re:

It's hard to describe feelings, but usually you'll feel if a bearing (especially a wheel bearing due to the larger mass of the wheel) is running without grease or if the grease is too hard.
If it spins freely for an extended period of time, you may be running the bearings with not enough grease. If you feel a resistance but it's not constant, either the bearings are overtightened, damaged or the grease has gotten hard.

When in doubt, dismantle, re-grease, re-assemble and adjust. (15min job but sometimes needs doing). ;)
 
Thanks :)

To be honest they seem to feel fine to me but Im not massive in experience.

My doubt somes simply from the age of the bike and thus thinking "surely by now the hubs and bb need regreasing" but the other voice in my head says they are fairly sealed and have never had real hammer so probably fine if they feel fine.

I guess I feel I should do it due to age, just not sure if I need to do it (and also will I do it right or make things worse).

Thanks for your thoughts :)
 
Re:

Wheel hub greasing/rim truing is considered pretty much annual maintenance, or more frequent, let alone 25yrs :)

I don't know the service history of your bike, but as you have mentioned the parts for a service, then it's sub-conscious agenda. Get it done!

Even if a BB feels smooth with no axial/radial play..worth whipping it out and clean round the inside of the shell and lightly grease the threads(lightly!) this way when/if it does need replacing it won't be such a concern whether or not it's seized in.

P.s, bin the tyres. Only a matter of time before the cotton thread rips and releases the inner tube.
 
As Marc said, it's pretty much regular maintenance. The quality of the grease, its viscosity, the mileage, storage conditions and speed at which the bike is driven do all affect how regularly the maintenance needs to be done.

I have cheap generic grease for stuff like headsets, threads and brake/gear cables. Those parts don't need quality grease in order to last long. However wheels and the BB axle turn at a high enough RPM to warrant proper bearing grease. I re-apply that every 2 years or 5K-ish miles, whichever comes first. I could probably easily go 2 or 3 times as long without any problem, but I prefer to have a large enough safety margin.
 
Great thanks folks ill get it done this xmas :)

The grease i have is TF2 lithium grease made by weldtite and suposedly good for all bike parts especially bearings (according to reviews).
Would you say this is ok or do you recommend a different grease for these components?
 
Lithium grease is nasty and turns to soap after a while.

Silicon based is much better, or just a big pot of WB grease from Halfords. Nice golden stuff.
 
fagin":1jnodrls said:
Lithium grease is nasty and turns to soap after a while.

Silicon based is much better, or just a big pot of WB grease from Halfords. Nice golden stuff.

Looking on the halfords website is that the copper grease?
Thanks so much

Edit:
Hmm
Reading up more, most say not to use silicone grease for metal to metal as it causes wear in excessive friction. Ive come across this before with lubricating rifle bolts now i remember.

Lithium people like but it gunges over time.

Copper people like but some people say copper against aluminium frame is dissimilar metals and can cause galvanic corrosion.

:( what to use

Edit2:
Also most i get googling wheel bearing grease is made by comma (halfords sells) and is apparently a lithium compound.

Getting more confused now. Anyone have an amazon uk link to the perfect bearing grease please?
 
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