Grease consists of a lubricating oil mixed with a ‘soap’ (lithium or calcium soap, for example) to make it viscous and sticky. Sometimes there are additives like Teflon. Grease is essential for bikes. Without it, bearings run roughly and wear rapidly. Without grease, water causes parts to seize up.

Most general purpose bike greases seem acceptable but all lack performance data. Alternatively, automotive greases (such as Mobil XHP222 or Motorex Bike Grease 2000) comply with industrial performance standards.

Before re-greasing, clean and check bearing surfaces for contamination and damage, such as pitting. Check more often for bikes enduring high mileages, heavy loads, or wet or dusty conditions. Some components are not designed to be serviced (sealed bearing cartridges, for example).

Washout kills bearings, so keep degreasers and power washers away! A grease with poor stability congeals, so bearings will run roughly.

Anti-seize and gripper pastes are for assembly not bearing lubrication. Anti-seize pastes reduce micro movement for screw threads and alloy seatposts. Gripper pastes are used on carbon fibre handlebars and seatposts to reduce the clamping torque needed.

Bike grease is often sold in tubes, like toothpaste. Great for applying gobs of grease to seatposts, it is messy and wasteful for greasing bearings. For bearings, you need a finer nozzle. The classic tool is a grease gun, and for bikes there are essentially two designs:

A quirky but effective option is a 12ml dental syringe (such as the Monoject 412). The curved tip is ideal for bearing access.

While there are lots of different greases, the good news is that most of us only need one multipurpose grease. Use this: