SUPER LUBRICANTS

[Jesper]

Just out of curiosity; has anyone ever tried using those "super lubricants" in the automotive aisle (e.g. "Slick 50", etc)? Seems I remember a commercial with Al Unser Jr. (or some race car guy) draining their oil from the car and then running around the track at full speed. I am, as an experiment, going try a few drops on a "test" bike just to see how the BB and hubs feel w/o grease. I used to know some skateboarders who did that on their wheels, they never used grease on the bearings, and those wheels would hum when you gave them a spin. Figure I can't hurt a beater bike at this point so I'll test it for as many miles as it can stand before a problem arises that needs to be investigated. I will start with good parts, not pitted or damaged, in order to provide a realistic test. Might try it on sealed bearings also; I have about 20 new BB assy's so I think I can spare one for the cause since even though they are Campy, they cost next to nothing to buy (at least at the time!). I know in a jam any decent lubricant will get you down the road for a spell; but at what cost? I will report on my results in a few of months unless things turn sour immediately.

[Papa Dom]

this is an interesting one, i'm curious to see or hear the results of this experiment. I have not tried any of those super lubricants but I know people who use them, Slick 50 in particular, for motorbikes.

[Jesper]

(10-22-2020, 08:49 PM)Papa Dom Wrote:  this is an interesting one, i'm curious to see or hear the results of this experiment. I have not tried any of those super lubricants but I know people who use them, Slick 50 in particular, for motorbikes.

Hi Dom,
Hope everything is going well for you. I'm glad you put the "curious to see" in your comment since I was remiss in thinking about photos; but in order to provide a well rounded report, I should visually document the components' conditions before and after.

As a side note: I have for many years (2 decades) been adding a drop or 2 (maximum!) of synthetic motor oil to my grease (usually Phil Wood) partially to keep grease "fresher" on bikes that don't get regular riding, and also to "thin" it out a little. Thus far, I have yet to see any issues arising from that practice; no undue wear and no grease leaking through bearing seals; be it a daily rider or not. I originally started doing this on smaller electric motor bearings and I never had a problem with it nor did my customers when doing small appliance repairs for folks who didn't want to invest in a new motor and/or part, but just wanted to get something up and running again before the final death knell.