There was a thread on the touring list last week about oiling bearings.
Someone replied:
>(John) Forrester was probably referring to hubs similar to
>Campagnolo Record, which
>came equipped in the centre with a wee black clip covering an oil hole.
>When Record was first made, Campagnolo supplied a white grease that many
>people still mistake for lithium, when in fact it was a mixture of soap and
>oil. The oil in the grease tended to separate out and dissipate over time,
>leaving a thick yellow residue, which could be reconstituted - via the
>oilhole - by simply adding a few drops of oil from an oilcan.
>
>Campy grease WAS, not is, soap and oil. Nothing seemed to cling to
>ball-bearing as well - I miss it. Nowadays their lubricants are space-age
>synthetic stuff, and very $$$.
>
>Mind you, Campy's old soap-and-oil grease was expensive too, but mostly
>because it was filtered 4 times and was super clean. One of the worst
>faux-pas' you could ever commit in a bikeshop, was to leave the lid off a
>tub of grease, because of worries about particles of dust and dirt
>contaminating the grease (and whenever I was saddled with a cocky kid helper
>in the back, I always used to watch out of the corner of my eye, to see if
>he would actually commit this cardinal sin. When he did, all of us would
>point and yell and curse and generally take the piss out of him completely -
>Great Fun!).
Soap & oil? Is this correct or just so much bikeshop bs?
Roy "I love the smell of Campy grease in the morning" Drinkwater Lititz, "it smells like VICTORY!" PA