Met a rider in Tucson who showed me why I was overhauling hubs wrong

Guy came in with a vintage set of Campagnolo hubs that were buttery smooth. Asked him his secret and he said I was packing too much grease into the bearings. He said it should be a light film, not a thick paste like I was doing. I tried it on my next hub job and the difference was night and day. Anyone else ever get called out for overgreasing?

2 comments

2 Comments

eric_ramirez671mo ago

The "light film not thick paste" thing blew my mind the first time I heard it too. I used to pack hubs like I was buttering toast and wondered why they felt sluggish after a month. On my last Shimano 105 hub overhaul I barely put any grease on the balls and just a thin smear in the races. Rolled way smoother and coasted forever. Its wild how much we overdo it because we think more grease = more protection.

spencer_ross1mo ago

Learned that lesson the hard way too - my first hub rebuild had so much grease in it I think I added like half a pound of rotating weight. Now I put less grease on my bearings than I put on a baking sheet for cookies.