...Elon and Grease

[2manyoranges]

...well the thread on lubes got me thinking and reading again...

Lithium grease has been pretty ubiquitous due to cheap supply of lithium and excellent properties over calcium grease. Well cheap supply has gone, due to electric car production demand for lithium. So back to calcium based greases? Or synthetics?

For a long time I had ignored calcium based grease since it had poor waterproofing qualities and other drawbacks But sulfonated calcium greases are now appearing to be superior to lithium greases:

'...Calcium sulfonate complex thickeners have distinct advantages over lithium-based thickeners, bringing tribological benefits that enhance grease performance. They provide a planar structure with calcite particles forming shear planes between metallic surfaces that boost extreme pressure wear protection. The vastly improved extreme pressure performance stems from multiple response points that absorb and disperse loads...'

...oooooh interesting. And lithium grease is just going to get more and more expensive with more and more environmental impact:

https://www.mining-technology.com/analyst-comment/lithium-mining-negative-environmental-impact/

and note that this is not from a environmental agency, it's from the mining industry.

At the moment, lithium grease on ebay is lower in price than sulfonated calcium ...
roughly half the price on manufacturers' websites

https://www.morrislubricantsonline.co.uk/k90-calcium-sulphonate-complex-grease.html

...but lithium is likely to rise in price quite quickly.

Why should we care about grease? Just pick up the nearest can and chuck it on. Well, grease is ultra-important in protecting components, And if that's an XTR hub being ridden in the wet, then the type of grease affects whether that hub will last or whether it will fail prematurely. The cost of a high quality grease is minimal compared with the cost and environmental impact of knackered components. I have never regretted knowing about and buying high quality grease - my trad hubs and suspension bearings just last so much longer than friends' because of it. Grief that's smug....but true. Know your grease; your bike will love you...

 

[24pouces]

I agree about you and about environmental question.

Perhaps I’m wrong but I have heard that Lithium grease is not for universal use :
- Lithium grease was preferred on ti parts (as copper grease) but not necessary on steel
- Lithium grease attacks some elastomers and plastics so to avoid in suspension forks…

 

[2manyoranges]

I agree about you and about environmental question.

Perhaps I’m wrong but I have heard that Lithium grease is not for universal use :
- Lithium grease was preferred on ti parts (as copper grease) but not necessary on steel
- Lithium grease attacks some elastomers and plastics so to avoid in suspension forks…

yes that's right - although of course it's not the lithium which does it, it's the petroleum based oils in it....so anything which uses t those is a problem - for rubber etc use red rubber grease which is silicon based as the slipperyness elements

 

[Woz]

Interesting. The old grease question pops up regularly - years and years ago someone did make a good point that many "high performance" products are overkill on a bike since RPM and operating temperatures tend to be low.

By far just regular maintenance goes a long way. In my experience looking after the headset always seemed the most sensitive area - the stock Cane Creek "sealed" bearings appalling metal quality rusting quick and the quantity of grease in them almost non-existent. The headset practically never makes a full revolution (so "drag" surely is a none issue) but any water or dirt ingress causes quick damage.

 

[2manyoranges]

Nice choice - high pressure low rotation waterproof