Cycling UK Forum

I've got a new bike (hurrah!) with Deore hubs. I've heard rumours that it's a good idea to strip and heavily grease even brand new hubs since they don't always have much grease in there.

The advantages of this preventative maintenance means are possibly outweighed by the fact that these are shiny and new and I haven't taken a hub apart for quite a while so might not do the best job.

Do you all take your hubs apart as soon as you get them? Or will the hubs be fine and I can wait until their annual maintenance?

IME expensive hubs, pedals etc from top brands like Shimano are properly greased up and adjusted when new and will last many thousands of miles. Cheap generic stuff and N.O.S. is worth re-greasing anyway. I give all new ones a twizzle and see if they run smooth. If they are rough and/or feel dry I strip em grease em and adjust properly. If they do run smooth I give them a few hundred miles to bed in and then strip them. That's just my humble opinion though. Those who strip everything may have horrror stories to tell! Let's see...

If the hubs are new then leave well alone as if it ain't broke don't fix it applies. Plus I should imagine you might invalidate any warranty. The hub will be properly set up as well. If you strip it all down and don't re-assemble it properly you are going to shorten it's life considerably. I would leave well alone. I bought a new rear Shimano XT 36H hub 2 years ago for a wheel build and have yet to grease it as it is still running nice and smooth.

Well, I'm usually in a minority of one anyway, so here I go again. I think new hubs are set up too tight. I always set up my hubs with a tiny amount of play. Then put it in the bike and do up the quick release, and the play disappears. I think if you set up the hub with no play ( as the manufacturers do ) when its in the bike with the Q/R done up its going to be too tight. Is there enough grease in new hubs? depends what you are going to do. If you are going to ride through deep water, power wash the bike, spray it with de- greasers there probably will never be enough grease in there for all that! I always drill a 2mm. hole so I can pump the grease in with a mini grease gun and then tape over it. You might want to wait until the warranty expires before you do that.

Cool. I think I'll wait. They're running great at the moment so I'll leave them be. I think I've heard the idea of greasing new hubs more from mountain bikers, where they are exposed to more water and mud than normal.

Thanks all.

Yeah, better weather is on the way so you can safely leave them alone for now, but if these were mine I'd strip them before next winter and prepare them for grease injection as described by 531colin, but sealing the hole with a tiny self-taping screw and O-ring. This done: you can regrease your hubs as often as you like in future and never have to dismantle or adjust them ever again.

I now have several sweet-running hubs (on good old cup-and-cone bearings) that I've not seen the insides of for more than a decade!

Which grease-gun is used to get grease into a tiny hole in the hubs?
I see that SJS has a couple but they seem to take a tube.

I have grease in big tubs, is there a small grease gun that you can refill that will reach a hole in a hub?

Mine was wholesaled by Ison Distribution, (I think they even put their name on it) so most bike shops will deal with them for tools and bits. Favourite tool!

Mick F wrote:Which grease-gun is used to get grease into a tiny hole in the hubs?
I see that SJS has a couple but they seem to take a tube.

I have grease in big tubs, is there a small grease gun that you can refill that will reach a hole in a hub?

Model shops also sell em, the type for pumping petrol into cars and such like and much cheaper than a bike branded one. I still strip and repack my hubs - strangely therapeutic!

Drilling and injecting grease...... I just did that to an XT rear hub on my mountain bike. It worked well for the bearings but the grease also go into the freehub and slowed the freewheel rachet to such an extent that it took ages to engage then when it did it did so with horrid cracking noises as if only the edges of the pawls were biting!

It was very annoying on the trails in Afan so I ended up taking the freehub off and flushing out the grease! I works again now. What did I do wrong?

Does anyone have a picture of a hub with a drilled grease port? I'm struggling to visualise where it would go (not having done a cup and cone bearing for a few years) so that it allows grease into the bearings without messing up their nice smooth surface to run against.

hamish wrote:Drilling and injecting grease...... I just did that to an XT rear hub on my mountain bike. It worked well for the bearings but the grease also go into the freehub and slowed the freewheel rachet to such an extent that it took ages to engage then when it did it did so with horrid cracking noises as if only the edges of the pawls were biting!

It was very annoying on the trails in Afan so I ended up taking the freehub off and flushing out the grease! I works again now. What did I do wrong?

Thats never happened to me - how odd. In fact theres a thread on here somewhere with me worrying because we thought the grease couldnt get into the freewheel so it would run dry. Done all my bikes for maybe 15 or 20 years with no problems. Shimano freehubs.

EDIT just a thought .... Its not the newest XT hub is it? The one with problems with the freewheel? With the tubular axle so theres no screwthread on the bit that goes in the dropout?

mark a. wrote:Does anyone have a picture of a hub with a drilled grease port? I'm struggling to visualise where it would go (not having done a cup and cone bearing for a few years) so that it allows grease into the bearings without messing up their nice smooth surface to run against.

Drill the centre of the hub between the 2 hub flanges that take the spokes. The grease runs left and right to the wheel bearings. Or possibly to the freewheel mechanism!

Its not the newest XT hub is it? The one with problems with the freewheel? With the tubular axle so theres no screwthread on the bit that goes in the dropout?

No - it's got a threaded axle. I did push the grease in very hard! There is a seal around the back of the freehub. You can take that off with a small screw driver so i guess the grease passed through it. I was a bit disapointed as i thought grease injection was the amswer!

hamish wrote: There is a seal around the back of the freehub. You can take that off with a small screw driver so i guess the grease passed through it. I was a bit disapointed as i thought grease injection was the amswer!

I dont think it can get to that seal from inside the hub. You inject the grease into the hub barrel between the spoke flanges, yes? So it will squirt through the hollow bolt that fixes the freewheel body (squirt between the hollow bolt and the axle). From there it gets into the centre of the freewheel body and the hub bearing that side. Now the speculation.Once the grease has reached the hub bearing, if you continue to push, where will the grease go? If theres a decent seal that side (and I dont know) is the grease then forced into that end of the freewheel body? I guess it all depends on how well/ badly sealed all the gaps are, the grease will take the path of least resistance. I just push the grease in until theres a bit of resistance, then i figure theres enough in!