Vent: People keep using automotive grease on bottom brackets and it drives me nuts

Honestly I see this at least once a month in the shop. Someone brings in a bike with a creaking bottom bracket and I pull it apart and find thick red automotive grease all over the threads and bearings. That stuff is way too heavy for a bicycle. It just gunks up the bearings and traps dirt until everything grinds down. I had a guy last week who swore by it because it was cheaper than bike grease. He ended up needing a whole new crankset after 6 months of riding in the rain. Has anyone else here had to clean that mess out of a customer's bike?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyc3011d ago

Oh man, that's like putting 80 weight gear oil in a lawnmower.

wade_young8611d agoMost Upvoted

And then someone tries to run that mower for 5 minutes and wonders why it's smoking like a bbq and the engine sounds like it's gonna blow. It's the same energy as using 87 octane in a Ferrari, just backwards lol.