105 rear hub

Aussie Steve

I have a 105 rear hub with loose bearings- the kind that run in the race, and you can repack the grease regularly.
My question is, why the hell do I have to keep regreasing it so often?
I greased it about 3 months ago and the other day, noticed rear wheel drag and rumbling, so pulled out the axle- bearings running dry again.
Why? it has one of those caps which keeps water out and grease in, but it seems to lose grease too often.
Why?

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Peter@vecchios

Heavier grease?? Phil Wood is very 'tenacious', thick.

dgregory57

The above suggestion could be one solution, I have also heard that boat trailer grease is good because of its waterproof properties.

But maybe other things to check out...

What sort of riding do you do?

If you ride in a lot of rain, it could be an issue (although I hope not)

What process do you use to clean your bike?

I could envision power washing, or grease-cutting detergents would aid the break down or disappearance of grease.

Do you spray WD-40 or other thin oils with solvents on your cassette area?

Every 3 months definitely sounds excessive to need grease, unless you do a several hundred miles per week.

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Phill P

What condition are the seals in and what brand lube do you use?

The lower viscousity grease does run out faster, but again 3 months sounds horribly short. Even Mountain bikes last longer than that by a looong way.
Even if you are high milage beginning and end of winter is a lot. I'm not particually high milage and have only had my campy wheels done every couple of years! (Which reminds me I should get our wheels serviced again soon).

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Shimano hubs and pedals
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TheDarkLord

Phill, just nitpicking, but the OP in in Oz where it is summer, not winter.

garage sale GT

The bearings have probably crapped out if you feel extra drag. A dry, good ball bearing will have less drag than a greased one, at least until it wears out from lack of grease, unless it is heavily loaded.

I concur with the others. Unless someone is playing a prank on you it's probably your cleaning/lubing routine.

If the hub is shielded rather than sealed, is it possible it got some fine dust in it and the dust thickened the grease, which got pushed out of the way due to being too thick?

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Phill P

I'm in Melbourne Australia, currently over 35 degC today, hotter tomorrow.

My comment about changing beginning and end of winter could easily be changed to beginning and end of summer, ie about every 6 mths I think is still a lot to need to repack a properly operating sealed hub.

Winter servicing in Australia is not what is is in other parts of the world. Australia is suffering from a major lack of rain, and hence mud if your ride off road. Dust in bearings would be more of an issue than water!!

__________________
******BLATANT ADVERTISING ALERT******
I have ceramic bearings for:
Campy/Fulcrum high end hubs/wheels
Shimano hubs and pedals
check out my ebay items here

Aussie Steve

I used to use Vaseline sometimes (seriously!!) and it does a great job. But for a long time, I've used a thick grease designed for car wheel bearings, Thinking that it will stay in longer than Lithium or other lightweight lubes. And I wash the cluster with a high pressure jet-wash but i'm naturally careful around the axle ends, so dont worry about the water washing the grease out !!

__________________
I have never had a problem with Premature Ejac... it's my partners that had the problem

swampy1970

Skip the high pressure jet-wash. Unless you're blasting the crap off the frame after a cyclo-cross.

I still stick to the age old method (I got this from some pro-team mechanic who published a book back in the 80's) of:

Dish washing soap and suitable rag in a bucket of water for pretty much everything.

Diesel for drivetrain cleaning. Rise pretty quicky thereafter.

Rinse with hose with no nozzle on the end.

Diesel does a great job or cleaning without stripping all the grease/lube off the chains. It smells a little but I don't really care that my chain doesn't have some fancy "new age" orange smell - although the Finish Line citrus degreaser does remind me of "properly measured" vodka and orange (ie more vodka, less orange)