Old shop lead showed me I was greasing headsets wrong for 5 years

Back in 2017 I was working at a shop in Portland and this crusty old mechanic named Dave watched me pack a headset. He just said "you're putting way too much in there, it'll just push out and get all over the fork." I was using a whole palmful of Park PolyLube on every bearing race. He showed me to just put a thin film on with my finger, barely enough to see. Now I use maybe a third of what I used to and I haven't had a single customer come back with a gritty headset since. Any of you guys also learn you were over-lubing stuff for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

elliot_taylor13d ago

Dave's advice works fine for a road bike but downhill bikes actually need that extra grease.

the_alice13d agoMost Upvoted

Wait did you actually try going lighter on the grease and it messed something up? Because I had the same worry when I swapped from my XC bike to a heavier downhill rig. I ended up following the manufacturer's guide to a T and it was way less grease than I expected, but the suspension felt way more consistent on rough runs. On the road bike sure you can get away with slathering it on but on a downhill bike too much grease just makes the seals feel sluggish and can trap dirt.