>From: "Tom Hayes" <hayesbikes@nls.net>
>To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>Subject: [CR]oiler and grease port question
>Date: Mon, 6 Sep 2004 07:56:18 -0500
>
>Those with more experience than I could possibly answer this: with some fifties and sixties bikes, you often see either an oiler or grease port on the bottom bracket and occasionally on the rear side of the headtube. If a person were to use these, especially the headtube one, I don't quite understand its benefit. With the headtube port, wouldn't one have to fill the headtube with grease before it actually affected the bearings--which I assume, perhaps erroneously, is what it is designed to reach--especially the top bearings? And on the bottom bracket, wouldn't the grease also be forced up the stays, downtube and seattube, before it affected the bearings, or alternatively, wouldn't the oil simply leak out, unless one used oil with the thickness of mud?
The grease of the 20s&30s was parifin based and would dry out.The oil ports were so a small amount of oil could be added to keep the grease from getting hard.Regular overhall and re-greasing would still be required.
sam lingo,pleasanton tx