Campy freehub grease port - what lube?

[Tnark]

Need to confirm what lube should be used in the freehub lube port on a '95 Campty Record hub. Oil or grease?

Just finished disassembling and servicing the rear hub. Replaced axle cones, balls, greased the bearings and the freehub ratchet pawls.

I also noticed a lubrication port in the freehub body itself - seems to lubricate only the 2 x sealed cartridge bearings. I squirted in some Weldtite cycle grease with teflon, until all old grease came out. The hub seems to run quite stiffly now with this grease in place - only when not coasting (When coasting, the ratchet pawls run quite freely and the sealed bearings in the freehub to not turn) Have I used the wrong lube for this port?

 

[tafi]

I have never used the grease ports on my Record hubs. The best way to lube them is to take them apart, clean and regrease periodically (as you have done). Using the ports just forces you to use more grease than is necessary, which adds drag (as you have also found).

I have put oil in track hub bearings as it keeps drag to a minimum and the environment of a velodrome is very clean and dry, but in doing that the bearings need to be cleaned and lubed before/after every day of racing (or perhaps even more frequently). Putting oil in road hub bearings (which get dirty and rained on quite often) is pure folly.

The lighter the lubricant, the more regular lubrication you need. Dirt/water works its way faster into lighter lubes, and oil has a habit of flowing out of the bearing with gravity.

 

[Tnark]

Thanks, yes agree, grease in road hubs is the only real choice.

The port in this particualar hub seems to lubricate only the 2 x sealed bearings that are in the freehub body, ie not the main hub bearings and pawls,(then again maybe it does if you sqirt the grease in with the freehub attached to the rest of the hub).

Sounds like the 2 x sealed bearings have stiffened up when filled with grease. I'll try to remove the freehub again, and flush out with a bid of oil to see if that helps.

 

[Peter@vecchios]

Originally Posted by Tnark .

Need to confirm what lube should be used in the freehub lube port on a '95 Campty Record hub. Oil or grease?

Just finished disassembling and servicing the rear hub. Replaced axle cones, balls, greased the bearings and the freehub ratchet pawls.

I also noticed a lubrication port in the freehub body itself - seems to lubricate only the 2 x sealed cartridge bearings. I squirted in some Weldtite cycle grease with teflon, until all old grease came out. The hub seems to run quite stiffly now with this grease in place - only when not coasting (When coasting, the ratchet pawls run quite freely and the sealed bearings in the freehub to not turn) Have I used the wrong lube for this port?

Grease in the bearings, oil on the pawls. Take the freehub body off, axle out. Tap out the top bearing, clean all the grease outta there. A wee bit IN the bearings(they don't have seals on one side), and reassemble.