Re: [CR]white campy grease (is it true what they say?)

(Example: History:Norris Lockley)

In-Reply-To: <286280.14605.qm@web32603.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
References: <286280.14605.qm@web32603.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:34:41 -0800
To: ias23philly@yahoo.com, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]white campy grease (is it true what they say?)


At 6:24 PM -0800 11/20/08, Isaac Schell wrote:
>Recently I built a pair of NOS campy pista wheels. The hubs still
>spun very smooth so I did not bother to repack them. However, a
>friend of mine told me that I should make a point to repack them
>with regular grease because that super expensive white campagnolo
>butter is not meant to be used on wheels which are ridden very often
>(and I will be riding these almost every day). Is this a cycling
>urban legend? Lie? Or actually true. It seems plausible only because
>everything cycling seems so specifically engineered.

With unused NOS hubs, you will know when the Campy grease isn't good any longer because it has turned to rubber. The hubs won't turn freely. It happens more often with bottom brackets, especially if no plastic shields are installed.

With used wheels, the risk is that the grease gets displaced over time, and they may feel smooth, but are running almost dry. When in doubt, overhaul. In fact, I'd overhaul the bearings of the NOS wheels after a month or two, just to be safe.

There is no magic to Campagnolo grease - ball bearings are used in many applications, and all types of grease are available for all sorts of applications. Just like there is no magic to Campagnolo's ball bearings. They were the best, but no better than what you could buy at your local bearing supplier. (Of course, loose ball bearings are getting harder to find in high qualities.)

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.bikequarterly.com