Took apart a 20 year old hub, the grease told me everything

I've always just repacked hubs with whatever grease was on the shelf. Then last week I cracked open a Shimano hub from 2004 that had been sitting in a barn. The old grease had separated into this weird jelly with water beads in it. That's what convinced me bearings need proper marine grease if they're ever gonna see rain. I pulled the races and they were pitted like a golf ball. Now I check grease type before I reassemble anything. How many of you actually use different grease for wet vs dry conditions?

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blair_gibson782mo ago

You ever pull apart something that's been sitting outside and find water inside where there absolutely shouldn't be any? I had an old trailer bearing do the same thing, looked like someone injected mayo into the hub. Now I just use the cheap marine stuff on everything, bikes included.

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