Drilling holes to grease

[JHZR2]

My speed play pedals have a screw on each end to allow me to degrease easily. It made me think - if I were to drill a hole on the hub or other place where bearings need to be greased, and then closed it up with a tiny screw, would this be a sound approach? Seems to me an easy way to keep things optimally lubed. I don't have the time or skill to regularly pull the bearings and repack, but this would make getting fresh grease in easier.

 

[scurvy]

Sounds like you've reinvented the zerk fitting.

Sounds like an excellent idea to help keep fresh grease in the bearings, but make sure there's a path for the old grease to get out.

 

[cchase]

Old internally geared hubs had grease (really oil) ports in the hub to allow just this for the gears, with a plastic cap that snapped on.

Realistically, it could work well for a bike too as long as you can figure out a way to get the old grease out.

The only thing I would mention is that you really don't need to grease the hubs very often. I've seen plenty of old, abused hubs with a lot of miles that still look brand new on the inside. As long as they're sealed well and aren't cheapo hubs to begin with they're usually good for a long time.

Then again, this is BITOG.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: scurvy
Sounds like you've reinvented the zerk fitting.

Sounds like an excellent idea to help keep fresh grease in the bearings, but make sure there's a path for the old grease to get out.


Exactly - the zerk mini, backfit to bike components that I already own...

 

[mpvue]

Suntour used to have components that had this exact thing, it was called Grease Guard. they got it from a company called WTB (Wilderness Trail Bikes). worked pretty well, but maybe more of a gimmick for most people.
most good bikes now have cartridge bearings that are sealed well, and are a 'remove and replace' deal.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
My speed play pedals have a screw on each end to allow me to degrease easily. It made me think - if I were to drill a hole on the hub or other place where bearings need to be greased, and then closed it up with a tiny screw, would this be a sound approach? Seems to me an easy way to keep things optimally lubed. I don't have the time or skill to regularly pull the bearings and repack, but this would make getting fresh grease in easier.


Are you putting that much miles to be greasing that often?

 

[dailydriver]

Old Campy Record hubs also had a hole in the center, covered by a wide, black, 'c-clip' which had a spot detent which fit in the hole to prevent leaks.

 

[rpn453]

It's nice to clean hub bearings up occasionally, but rarely necessary. Any decent hub is sealed well enough that it won't really need fresh grease over a typical lifetime unless it's submerged. Even then, I think only the freehub's thinner lubrication would be easily washed out. Besides, if you filled the hollow center of a fat modern hub you'd probably more than double the weight of the hub, and add some drag between the grease and the axle. Not sure where else the grease would go. It would fill that before trying to force itself out of the seals. I also don't know if the seals would like that. You'd need an old hub with simple single seals and a very small hub body diameter for this to be practical.

It makes more sense on pedals, where there is often only a cartridge bearing on the outboard end and just a large greased bushing surface to handle the inboard load, with minimal seals and minimal empty space. It's probably that bushing surface that benefits from the grease.

Do you have 13mm, 15mm, and 17mm cone wrenches? Repacking hubs isn't difficult, and there is some pleasure involved in putting a clean hub back together. The only tricky part can be lubing the seals in the right spots, but if you just completely coat those in grease during installation they'll be well-lubed. You could easily repack two hubs and lube up the freehub in under an hour once you're familiar with the process.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
My speed play pedals have a screw on each end to allow me to degrease easily. It made me think - if I were to drill a hole on the hub or other place where bearings need to be greased, and then closed it up with a tiny screw, would this be a sound approach? Seems to me an easy way to keep things optimally lubed. I don't have the time or skill to regularly pull the bearings and repack, but this would make getting fresh grease in easier.


Are you putting that much miles to be greasing that often?


It's more an issue of a ton of dust, dirt and moisture working into the insides when mountain biking.

 

[cchase]

I'm not trying to deter you from doing this - it's a neat idea and I can't see the harm.

With that said, "for what it's worth", the XT hubs on my trail bike are 10 years old. They've been used on muddy northeast trails, salty roads, mud season commuting, large streams, and have many thousands of miles on them.

Last winter I took the rear hub apart. The grease looked brand new.

 

[Surestick]

Originally Posted By: mpvue
Suntour used to have components that had this exact thing, it was called Grease Guard. they got it from a company called WTB (Wilderness Trail Bikes). worked pretty well, but maybe more of a gimmick for most people.
most good bikes now have cartridge bearings that are sealed well, and are a 'remove and replace' deal.


I was going to mention this too. Worth looking them up to see how it's done if you really plan on doing this.

That said, Speedplay pedals need more frequent attention than most bearings due to their design. You really do have to keep up on the maintenance with them. My understanding is it's due to the roller bearings they use which tend to push the grease aside more than ball bearings.

Also, as said above, most modern hubs don't need attention that frequently. Maybe once a year unless you are really abusing them (pressure washings, riding in water that submerges the hub or really doing mega miles). If you are using cup & cone Shimano hubs they are quite easy to re-grease too, you just need the right size cone wrench which isn't an expensive tool.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
My speed play pedals have a screw on each end to allow me to degrease easily. It made me think - if I were to drill a hole on the hub or other place where bearings need to be greased, and then closed it up with a tiny screw, would this be a sound approach? Seems to me an easy way to keep things optimally lubed. I don't have the time or skill to regularly pull the bearings and repack, but this would make getting fresh grease in easier.


Are you putting that much miles to be greasing that often?


It's more an issue of a ton of dust, dirt and moisture working into the insides when mountain biking.


Nonetheless, are you really putting on that many miles to be greasing that often on the frogs?

My crank bros candy are good for just annual regreasing, including all the dry days I ride and all the muddy days I ride.

 

[JHZR2]

No idea... Just figured it might be a good thing to do...

 

[supton]

I opened up the hubs on my Trek 1.2 road bike a year or so ago, after 1,500 miles or so. The drive side, rear hub, had some grease that had changed colors. Never submerged, but makes me think repacking once/year isn't a bad idea. Then again, it's probably got cheapo hubs (Bontrager wheelset).

What is considered "mega miles"?

 

[mpvue]

I worked in shops for 15 years, building, repairing, overhauling all kinds of bikes from all kinds of conditions and miles, rebuilt so many hubs, headsets and bottom brackets...

I have NEVER had to rebuild a pedal.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: mpvue
Suntour used to have components that had this exact thing, it was called Grease Guard. they got it from a company called WTB (Wilderness Trail Bikes). worked pretty well, but maybe more of a gimmick for most people.
most good bikes now have cartridge bearings that are sealed well, and are a 'remove and replace' deal.


I realized that I once had a Suntour hub with grease ports just inside of the spoke flange. I thought it was an old one in my parts bin that I had stolen some seals and an axle from, but that wasn't it. Then I remembered that I had a Suntour cartridge bearing hub on my indoor mag-trainer bike. Sure enough, it's a "Suntour XC Pro" featuring "WTB Suntour Grease Guard Pat. Pend." I can't even remember where that wheel came from. It's probably from the late 80's. It even has the single-wall peaked-center Araya rim that became the template for so many cheap Femco rims.

I pulled the axle out and there seems to be a sleeve running through the middle with a tight fit on the "cone". I guess that keeps the grease in the right spots.

The well-sealed hubs I've been talking about are the traditional cup and cone style from Shimano. I don't think Shimano has gone to cartridge bearings, have they?

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: rpn453
The well-sealed hubs I've been talking about are the traditional cup and cone style from Shimano. I don't think Shimano has gone to cartridge bearings, have they?


No. The only big name that really jumped on the cartridge bearing bandwagon seems to be Mavic. I'm not sure it's a good thing, either. They're simply not as good as a cup and cone open bearing system.

 

[Kestas]

Maybe I'm behind the times but any bearing I've serviced on a bicycle has shields as opposed to seals. Shields would provide an exit point for grease during relubrication.

I like the idea of drilling a hole for regreasing. Unless your bicycle is always kept dry, a fresh grease charge would push out the old grease contaminated with moisture.

My bicycle is 35 years old (original owner). I used to regularly rebuild the entire bicycle. The last time I went through it 5 years ago, most of the bearings were spalled. It's not so bad that they're about to seize, but it's too expensive to replace all the bearings, so I keep riding it.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: cchase
Originally Posted By: rpn453
The well-sealed hubs I've been talking about are the traditional cup and cone style from Shimano. I don't think Shimano has gone to cartridge bearings, have they?


No. The only big name that really jumped on the cartridge bearing bandwagon seems to be Mavic. I'm not sure it's a good thing, either. They're simply not as good as a cup and cone open bearing system.


other big names in the hubs have gone to cartridge bearings, White Industries, Hope, DT Swiss, etc.

I do drool over the Mavic 29-er wheels though (and quite pricey)... not sure which route I'm taking for the road bike...

 

[cchase]

You are correct. I just don't like the insinuation that cartridge bearings are better than cup-and-cone. I think the only real reason 3rd party hub manufacturers have gone cartridge is because they're cheaper to make. Cup-and-cone is a better system for maintenance and they last longer.