Grease, Lubricant, Threadlock, Fibregrip: What & Where Should You Use It?

Walking into a bike shop can be a confusing time with a big range of maintenance products. It’s important not to get them mixed up though as they are specific for each job. So today, let’s take a look at lubricants, greases and threadlock and where and when to use them.

Firstly, what is grease? To keep things pretty simply it’s largely made up of oil, which does the job of lubricating, added in is some thickener to turn it into the semifluid product we see here. Depending on the viscosity of grease, so basically the thickness, depends on how much thickener is added, logical right? There are lots of characteristics that make up grease, such as
Level Of Water resistance - pretty important to a cyclist usually as we tend to encounter rain, in our case in the UK, alot!
The dropping point - This is the temperature of which grease turns into liquid, or basically drips. You want grease, not liquid, right?
Then you’ve got additives - So components added into the mix it could be to help with resistance to corrosion for example, or to reduce friction and well I could keep going, for a long time.
Where to use grease?
A good way of thinking about it is that you grease parts that generally aren’t touched that often, so your bottom bracket threads or bearings, hub bearings, headset bearings, integrated crank spindles, brake lever clamp bolts that kind of thing.
Also, seatposts if you get one stuck… It can be a nightmare. More on those in a while though

What grease to use?
There are a few different types of grease out there, but basically for most jobs I tend to use something with a medium viscosity. At home, I use this Motorex grease when working on bike parts, it reminds me of the grease that comes fitted in Shimano bearings. It’s a decent thickness and lasts a good while. On my winter bike, which suffers from lots of road salt and basically the worst of the weather, I actually use marine grease. It’s got some of those extra additives in to resist corrosion and lasts a long time, warning though, it is very sticky and very messy. Wear an apron and some gloves, like this!

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[gcntech]

Do you know your grease from your threadlock?

[billbarnes]

LocTite 222 for chainring bolts. It's a low strength threadlock - keeps the chainring bolts from loosening, but still allows for easy disassembly.

[mihalis]

I have a 2006 Kona Jake the Snake. My mom bought it new, rode it for years, and has since passed it down to me. In the spring and fall, I disassemble it completely. When I reassemble it, I use white lithium grease in wheel bearings, the headset, bottom bracket, some threads like pedals, on the cassette hub, brake bosses, and on the interface between the cassette and lockring. All other bolts get blue thread locker. I usually put a drop of wet chain lube or silicon oil in brake and shift cable housings. The chain gets wet lube, though I think I might start using dry lube because I never ride in the rain if I can avoid it.

[rzeckner]

Big fan of hot paraffin wax dip for my chain. All studies I am aware of rate it very highly for protection and low friction. However for me the biggest benefit is that I no longer have a greasy black stain on my right leg's calf after most rides.

[davidmckenna]

I have been using the chain wax this winter and it is AWESOME! There are no bikes allowed in my building, but when I told "them" 1) how expensive my bike is and 2) how there is no chain lube to drip or rub on anything, I got the OK!

[harrie]

I use squirt lube for several years now. It’s a wax based dry lube that keeps the chain clean for a longer time.

[hjshoon]

Bike tool companies like (eg muc off, park tool, finish line) should come out with a small starter kit for these different kinds of stuffs, minimally carbon grip, grease, seize paste and maybe thread lock for people who don't need the whole tubes. Lubes are used more frequently so makes sense to sell them separately. Or is there already one what I'm not aware of?

[MrGibichung]

GCN just gets better and better. The addition of the Tech show with Jon has become my favorite video of the week, and Emma (as long as she speaks slowly) has been a very welcome addition. Thanks everyone. One suggestion, though: I wonder if it is possible to tape a show, like this one, with 12 minutes, without an "actually" every 18 seconds on average (or about 40 "actually"s for the episode. It would actually make the show even more interesting (and less distracting), actually. Thanks again for a great show, actually.

[Stuartrusty]

Loctite 222 screwlock for chainring bolts, limit screws and brake bolts.
Weldtite TF2 lithium grease with teflon (not ideal environmentally, but have had one tube for the last 3 years) for bearings, seatposts and other dissimilar surfaces I don't want to sieze.

Chain Juice wet lube for chain in current UK conditions.

For all other things like derailleur pivot and swing points, occasional cable easing, brake levers and gear shifters I use good old 3 in 1 multi purpose lube.

[RegisACoelho]

I'm using the wax method for more than 3 months now, and aside of the removing chain to lube, it's perfect.
Obs.: I reapply every month or 3 weeks. Started with a new chain, and the wear is apparently normal.
A tip I learned. Where I live, big ceremonial candles are cheaper for the weight and easier to find than to buy paraffin.

[dhkitson]

I use and have used a wax based lubricant called Sqirt for my mountain bike and road bike chains. It works in both wet and dry conditions. The application method is different for wet vs dry .I've had excellent results with it.

[noelharrington]

John's best one so far. He's starting to nail it now

[davidslater]

I use Squirt wax lube on my chain. Works well and helps keeps the chain clean. Easy maintenance👍

[jurestiplosek]

I bought one liquid grease from our local shop. It is for chainsaw. But that one is really clear and not too aggressive. If I hear some noise from bike I just spray little and it is amazing how long it will last. Better than any stuff I've been using so far.

[ridein]

I would've stated the lube accessories which are helpful, that is using a needle spout oiler bottle, which is very helpful lubing chains, and a grease gun is great for speedplay pedals.

[stevenbailey]

I use paraffin between chain waxing and it works great. Chain attracts very little dirt and it is much cleaner when dealing with the drive train in the field

[ddjgeop]

I use a water proof green grease. It doesn't wash out and is resistant to rust and corrosion. Also offers salt water protection. Excellent stuff

[stevehambley]

For years I've used TriFlow on chains and LE (Lubrication Engineers) for grease with good results.

[EditioCastigata]

Anti-seize: Don't use any copper-containing one, go for a ceramics-based product. Threadlocker: Loctite 222 should be enough; but due to all the aluminium and Ti parts, you'd need to use activator 7471 or 7649 as well. And if you live in Germany, you can get away with the best all-season grease for a bike: KP2K-35 or KPK-30 (5€ die Kartusche, für Landwirtschaftsmaschinen). Lose bearings or press-fit BB? Loctite 638.

[rabishop]

I use Duckhams Admax L2 lithium grease for most purposes. It's more waterproof than conventional greases.
It was used in the assembly of windscreen wiper motors and gear boxes where I used to work.
I bought a commercial size tub about 10 years ago when a very small tin of Campagnolo grease cost about £5.