Grease free hub body?

[the bottle ride]

Recently I was swapping wheels and pulling off the cassette on 2 seperate bikes built up recently by the same mechanic- on the first wheel I noticed there was no grease on the free hub body and I chalked it up to oversight. On the 2nd wheel I noticed again after I pulled off the cassette that again there was no grease on the free hub body.

Am I wrong in how I was taught to build/maintain my bikes by adding grease to the free hub body? I respect this mechanic as he has done some good work on various bikes over the years, but am I missing something? I worked in shops for 10+ years and maybe I learned the wrong way moons ago.

I miss the days when I had more time to build up my own bikes and do all my own work.... Sort of I guess.

Thank you advance for thoughts and comments.

[sam]

i dont put grease on it, to keep dirt etc. from building up. i do sometimes put a little oil and whipe it on to give it a little coverage.

[dsaul]

In 15 years of building and maintaining bikes for myself and several others, I've never heard of or seen grease on a freehub body. I'm not sure what purpose it would serve other than collecting dirt. Stuck cassettes are usually from the cogs biting into the freehub body and lube won't prevent that.

[christian]

I do not grease my freehub bodies. I can't think of a reason why a stepped interface like that would benefit from grease.

[David Tollefson]

Ditto what others have said. In 35 years of riding (and no, not all of those were with cassettes), I've never greased a freehub body. Light oil to protect the surface from rust, if you feel the need.

[Tristan]

I write the Workshop section for a local magazine and one of the topics covered was swapping cassettes. Figuring I should get my facts straight I talked to the Shimano, Sram, and Campagnolo representatives to find out the official word on grease as I couldn't find any note in any of their installation instructions: Not one of these companies officially recommends or suggests grease on the freehub body splines.

Two of the three representatives said that on their own bike they apply a small smear of grease before fitting the cassette.

My theory is that at some point in history Shimano would have tasked a team of engineers to research and test this topic and if they'd found grease to be of use they would suggest it as their tech-docs and installation instructions are the best in the biz. So I concluded that it doesn't matter whether there is grease there or not.

One thing which does matter is lockring torque: 40Nm is pretty friggin' tight (the veins on your arms will start bulging) and the lockring prevents the cogs creaking or allowing them too much of a chance to dig into an aluminium freehub body. Most people that don't own/use a torque wrench don't apply nearly enough torque to the lockring.

[abbeyQ]

What are you looking to accomplish by greasing it?

I don't grease for two reasons, It takes time and all the grease is good for is attracting dirt, which in turn takes more time to clean.

[nash]

i apply grease because thats what i was taught. just a little. unless i'm feeling lazy, then i dont. but it doesnt really matter. freehubs dont usually get very dirty and if they do most of the dirt comes off when you remove the cassette. i dont remember ever removing a cassette and saying oh gross look how much dirt got in here because of too much grease.

[lala]

Are you talking about greasing the outside (the bit that the cogs go on) or the inside (where the freewheel magic lives) ?

I don't grease the former but, on most systems, do put a little grease on the latter.

[Gattonero]

I write the Workshop section for a local magazine and one of the topics covered was swapping cassettes. Figuring I should get my facts straight I talked to the Shimano, Sram, and Campagnolo representatives to find out the official word on grease as I couldn't find any note in any of their installation instructions: Not one of these companies officially recommends or suggests grease on the freehub body splines.

Two of the three representatives said that on their own bike they apply a small smear of grease before fitting the cassette.

My theory is that at some point in history Shimano would have tasked a team of engineers to research and test this topic and if they'd found grease to be of use they would suggest it as their tech-docs and installation instructions are the best in the biz. So I concluded that it doesn't matter whether there is grease there or not.

One thing which does matter is lockring torque: 40Nm is pretty friggin' tight (the veins on your arms will start bulging) and the lockring prevents the cogs creaking or allowing them too much of a chance to dig into an aluminium freehub body. Most people that don't own/use a torque wrench don't apply nearly enough torque to the lockring.

Yup, I'm with you with the "stated 40Nm" on the lockrings.
Indeed, some lightweight freehub bodies may get damaged.
Have a look the DT Swiss lockring, it says "30nm" for a reason.

As far as grease on the outside the freehub, I would smear a little film on steel bodies, with the reason to prevent corrosion (UK weather isn't the most gentle with bike parts); but do not find any reason to grease the thread for the lockring.

Grease inside the freehub body?
Only when recommended (i.e. Chris King). But in the winter I do like to make a hairline just down the seal of most freehubs, not in contact with the pawls then, to shut out water/dirt.
For the pawls, Finish Line Wet during winter, or ProGold Pro Link in the summer

[dashDustin]

Grease on a freehub body is never a fun surprise. Kind of a pet-peeve.

[deepsix]

Never on road or tri-bikes. Allegedly fixed a creak on a MTb once though.
Good to see votes for following torque settings on cassette lock rings again. This matters boys and girls. Don't care how cool some tools are.

[Gattonero]

I usually follow the "tak tak tak" when the knurled part of the lockring is positevely engaging.
Can't even remember when was the last time I've used a torque-wrench for a lockring. Must have been years ago.
I prefer to feel when the threads are doing their job, and things are going nicely the way they should.
Measuring tools are used every time it needs to, but are not an universal substitute for experience about this job. What mechanic is the one that does never trust his hand at work?

[Bssc]

slobs who do not do any care to their bikes for a year need the grease cause that cassette can get stuck bad
this that live in a heavy salt water mist area also need it

other than those two no oo

[deepsix]

What mechanic is the one that does never trust his hand at work?

I hear you man. I close my eyes and use the force when I'm seasoning food sometimes. But for a Zipp freehub body- or another such delicate part-- I don't want to add too much salt and ruin the soup. I routinely back off recommended torque settings based on feel and use- but I can account for what bolts are set at by using measuring tools.

EG: Sir, These bolts are tightened just shy of their max rating, but they are greased and the clamp surface was prepped with assembly compound. Soup of the day style.

[Applesauce]

One thing which does matter is lockring torque: 40Nm is pretty friggin' tight (the veins on your arms will start bulging) and the lockring prevents the cogs creaking or allowing them too much of a chance to dig into an aluminium freehub body. Most people that don't own/use a torque wrench don't apply nearly enough torque to the lockring.

You're right, but plenty of mechanics who come to own a torque wrench (most bike-specific torque wrenches don't go that high) are surprised to find out how tight 40 Nm is not. We have some folks who love to put most their weight into an 18"-long wrench, and that's more than 40 Nm. I can't see that this would damage an M30-ish x 0.8mm thread, and have never seen a lockring shear, but make it easier on the guy who might have to remove it, and find out how tight 40 Nm actually is... (Hint: it's not as tight as your Ultra-Torque or BB30 crank bolt.)

[Christian Fox]

A little grease for me; I have this thing about metal to metal contact stuff (except square taper spindles of course). I'm glad to see some advocates for torque wrenches on lock rings. I was pilloried (slightly strong word) for suggesting their use over on that Abbey cassette tool thread.

[christian]

Of course you should use a torque wrench on lock rings. And on your car lug nuts, too. Oh, and you should grease tapers, too. But not tapirs. A greased tapir is hell to catch.

[Christian Fox]

Of course you should use a torque wrench on lock rings. And on your car lug nuts, too. Oh, and you should grease tapers, too. But not tapirs. A greased tapir is hell to catch.

1.) tapirs - agree
2.) why grease tapers? Campy instructions say not to; crank arms will ride too far up the taper according to them

[christian]

The press fit of a crank against a taper will displace all grease at the interface; grease or no grease it goes as far as the point where the faces meet and no further. Riding it obviously walks the crank up the interface a bit more, but again, grease won't impact the degree.


The only reason to grease the tape and the crank bolt is that you ensure that the arm goes on smoothly and that the torque value of your torque wrench reflects only the resistance from the taper interface. It's one of those "not strictly necessary, but why not."