Finish Line Teflon Synthetic Grease

Product Information

Polytetrafluoroethylene ( PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and is a PFAS that has numerous applications. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemours, [3] a spin-off from DuPont, which originally discovered the compound in 1938. [3] It is a common debate among cyclists (and mechanics) which is the best bicycle bearing grease – for use in hub, or steerer, brake pivot etc. bearings. Some swear by the old “axle grease” that “… my grandfather / father used …” Others recommend silicone, Teflon, graphite grease and so on.This postexplains important characteristics of various greases in terms of lubricating bicycle bearings.

Table 6 gives a comparative overview of some commonly used solid lubricants. As can be seen, MoS 2satisfies most criteria and that is why it’s most commonly used, often as an additive to greases. Table 6 Grease used for (and marketed as) boat trailer wheel bearing lubrication. Bearings that need to be submerged into sea water when boats are put into the sea. Very good corrosion and water washout resistance. Use temperature range is similar to ordinary calcium greases (if it is complex, then like complex calcium greases). Relatively low price (similar to calcium, or complex calcium greases).

\n\t\t\tHalfords Teflon Grease, 125ml

https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants/for-businesses/heavy-duty-lubricants/products/mobil-delvac-1-gear-oil-75w-90/ It should also be taken into considerationthat the design of a bicycle wheel witha hubin the middle makes the lever by which the force is applied to the hubso large that the dragthat hubseventually produceis practically negligible. Especiallywhen comparing the dragof oiled versus the drag produced byproperly greasedhubs. Even when each second counts,there are lots of other places where the time can be saved(bothon the bike itself, as well as with the equipment), while the hubsshould be the last thing to experiment on. Of course, everyone chooses by themselves, for themselves, but if hubs arelubricated with oil, it should be noted that this should berepeated every week, or every 500 kilometers ridden– whichever ofthe of the two comes first. As far as I know, those are decent-quality calcium-based greases, that are softer than NLGI2 hardness, not aggressive on plastics, rubber or metal.

Another important thing is the speed. When a bicycle is ridden around 30 km/h, wheels turn about 250 times per minute (250 rpm). Pedals are rarely turning faster than 100 revolutions per minute, while the steerer bearings rpm is much lower. Also, the distances traveled by bearing balls are relatively small due to the small diameter shaft. When the tyre travels around one meter, hub bearings cover a distance of under 10 centimeters. you wrote something above. That nlgi 1 doesn’t hold bearings well enough. Are you referring to loose bearings? because in newer years there are no loose bearings anymore and the cage their in hold themin place.

My analogy was aimed at the overkill side of the comparison. You can pay double the price with questionable benefits (if any).

Those bearings need to cope with the load of under 200 kilograms(usually). The load is dynamic, so that impactscan drastically change the volume. However, due to the low weight of a bicycle, only human strengthof it’s rider, as well as the fact that abicyclecarries a maximum of two people (specially designed tandems), the forces that occur and bearing loads are relatively small compared to similar in cars, motorcycles, or industrial machinery. Same as lithium complex greases with EP (extreme pressure) additives. In fact, lithium complex greases are almost impossible to find manufactured without EP additives. These additives are not needed for bicycle bearing use. With greases, all that is not needed is usually harmful, but in this particular case, no measurable harm comes from the EP additives. They can increase corrosion of coloured metals and silver, but with steel bicycle bearings they are mostly harmless™. Better without them, but no problems with them. Because of its superior chemical and thermal properties, PTFE is often used as a gasket material within industries that require resistance to aggressive chemicals such as pharmaceuticals or chemical processing. [30] However, until the 1990s, [13] PTFE was not known to crosslink like an elastomer, due to its chemical inertness. Therefore, it has no "memory" and is subject to creep. Because of the propensity to creep, the long-term performance of such seals is worse t For pressing in the bearings (not for lubrication of moving parts), I prefer (and recommend) using some kind of anti-seize, not grease. Because it provides long(er) term protection from seizing (corrosion), helping both with mounting and dismounting. Grease can be relied upon for only up to one year, if not even shorter period, for anti-seize protection. Products sold as “copper grease” are quite good for that task.As for Mobil – any of the two should be OK. 220 has a slightly better washout resistance, while the 100 is a bit better at low temperatures. For extreme heat, I’d prefer 220, for extreme cold, the 100. The more rain/mud/water, the more I’d be inclined toward the 220 – which is a slightly better “multipurpose grease” as well I think. The resulting polymer is terminated with sulfate ester groups, which can be hydrolyzed to give OH end-groups. [17] Dirt intrusion (the main reason why bottom headset bearings get busted a lot sooner than the top ones). Not to be confused with aluminium anti seize pastes. Similar to lithium greases, with better water resistance (similar to calcium greases), but with a significantly higher price.

If riding environment has lots of rains and/or sea water, good choice is calcium (soap based) grease (or “marine” grease). Available, cheap, with good water resistance. The only situations where this grease is not a very good choice are extreme heats (bike left for hoursin over +35 °C summer sun), or riding in very low temperatures (below -15°C). Bicycle bearings, whether on wheels, cranks, or fork, are usually ball bearings, i.e. they consist of balls, trapped between two races. These bearings are almost never made to be easily re-lubricated from the outside, without disassembling them, so frequent lubrication would take a lot of time. Graphite is added to a grease as a solid lubricant, to improve extremely high load bearing characteristics. It is usuallycombined with calcium, or aluminium greases. Bearing extremely high loads is completely needless attribute for a bicycle bearing grease. You will needlessly pay more, with no measurable practical (or even theoretical) benefits. For example, if I were routinely riding a loose-ball mtb in wet conditions I’d probably select a Marine grease because it’s made to keep water out, not wash out, resist corrosion, and maintain a good oil film even in the presence of water. In part it does this by using solids like Moly. Ditto for the pedals and headset, but probably not the hubs, but wouldn’t it be nice to know? I mean, WTF, for the price we pay for bicycle grease, and the cost of what it protects, why the hell don’t we know what’s in the grease we buy? There should be standardized “nutrition labeling” for grease, for some of the very reasons we’ve been discussing. NLGI standards are a joke, and everybody in the industry knows it and devises their own tests to prove performance, as Gareth Fish’s White Paper makes clear. Soap greases. Soaps are usually made by saponification of fatty acids with hydroxides of various metals – aluminium, calcium,sodium, barium.I found one XADO patent describing process of revitalisation: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9388360B2/en