Hub Lubrication

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velohomme

Senior Member
I'm talking about mid 1970's shimano hubs. The ones with a hole in the centre covered by a clip. My LBS tells me it should be grease in there not oil. The hole is only about 1mm dia. Anybody got any thoughts? If it is grease how do you get it in?
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Cycle grease gun !

My Dura Ace 7400 (late 80's), have grease ports where the seals are, turn them open, squirt grease in, close. Great idea.
 
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velohomme

velohomme

Senior Member
This a dura ace 1st series. Is the hole the same size. I have to admit to never having seen a grease gun that small. Looks a a Google search
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Even if not an exact fit, you'll need something to get the grease in, and this is the only way without stripping the hub the 'usual' way.
 

Tenkaykev

Guru
Location
Poole
Is there a second hole for the old grease to be pushed out?
(genuine question from my days overhauling electric motors)
 

davidphilips

Veteran
Location
Onabike
Just my view , better to strip clean and grease hubs, that way you know not only condition of bearings but that very old grease that may seem like dirty soap etc has been cleaned out also theres not a mis match with two different greases and all the bearings are well lubricated.
 

gbb

Legendary Member
Location
Peterborough
If I think back to the 70s, we had those holes with covers, we just used to put oil in, never had any problems...mind I suspect it must dribble out so not a great solution if your bikes kept In the house. I still remember how freely wheels would spin with oil in the bearings.
It never occurred to us to put grease in...does the grease have to be quite runny to get out to the bearings or does centrifugal force force the grease out to the bearings perhaps.?
 
Probably best to strip, clean and check before reverting to quick and easy grease injection. I would love that on my dynamo hub.
 

ChrisEyles

Guru
Location
Devon
My old 1950s Raleigh has these on the hubs - I use thickish oil, little and often. Modern grease is much better than older stuff (emulsifies less quickly) so either oil/grease should be fine.

Never had the oil dribble out noticeably. I do lean the bike side to side to make sure the oil gets to the bearings, not sure how you'd accomplish that with grease.
 
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velohomme

velohomme

Senior Member
Thanks for all the replies. I think I'll just just grease the hubs. At least I'll know where the grease is.
 

rogerzilla

Legendary Member
You can inject grease but it has to fill the whole shell before it pushes the old grease out, and will add a lot of drag. Better to strip as normal.
 
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