# What's the deal with the lithium based grease?



## MegaVolt (Feb 7, 2004)

K2 forum people said I'd better ask this in the "General" forum.


My fork manual states I should not use lithium-based greases and this will result in corrosion of the sliders.

I used to think that a water resistant grease must be lithium soap based. I have like 4 different greases I use on my roller skates bearings and on my bike, but I am pretty sure they are all lithium based. Is there a general name for non-lithium based greases and how do I identify them?


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## Lucky (Jan 12, 2004)

MegaVolt said:


> K2 forum people said I'd better ask this in the "General" forum.
> 
> My fork manual states I should not use lithium-based greases and this will result in corrosion of the sliders.
> 
> I used to think that a water resistant grease must be lithium soap based. I have like 4 different greases I use on my roller skates bearings and on my bike, but I am pretty sure they are all lithium based. Is there a general name for non-lithium based greases and how do I identify them?


You might also get some good answers in the Tooltime forum.

I'm not a grease expert, but the synthetic greases can very water resistant. Look for Teflon or silicone-based lubes. One of my favorites is Phil Wood grease. It is water resistant and doesn't dry out and get gummy like the petroleum-based greases or white lithium greases I've used. The lithium greases I'm familiar with are whitish and opaque. Some synthetics like Phil Wood or Bullshot are translucent red or green. There may be opaque, whitish greases that don't contain lithium, so I'm not sure there is a visual way to id the material in a grease. Checking with the manufacturer is your best bet.

For forks, I really like Slick Honey. It is a very low viscosity grease that doesn't get sticky, so it works well in forks. Does the fork manual recommend a specific grease, or just not lithium?

Kathy :^)


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## fozziebear (Mar 3, 2004)

*Lithium grease hardens*

Don't use lithium grease anywhere on a bike. After a short time it will harden and turn to soap. For forks use Slik Honey or Judy Butter, for bearings and everything else use Slick 50 One Grease. Slick 50 is a waterproof teflon based based grease that is really slippery and doesn't attract much dust as some other greases can. Also being synthetic, it doesn't harm any seals.


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## MegaVolt (Feb 7, 2004)

Lucky said:


> Does the fork manual recommend a specific grease, or just not lithium?


Nope. I ended up calling the fork manufacturer (Noleen). They said, lithium-based grease is bad for the fork mostly because it causes too much stiction which tells on performance.

I am still a bit at a loss because it turned out that, like, any grease I have or ever saw around was lithium based, and so many people here are aware that there are non lithium-based greases, so I can't quite get it how come I never came across a non lithium-based grease.

I am going to a hardware store first thing in the morning tomorrow.


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## Bird (Mar 26, 2004)

I've used white lithium grease in my headset for years and slik honey on forks and pennzoil 707 bearing grease on wheel bearings and pedal bearings.I do this twice a year and everything stays in proper working order but i,m not a lubrication scientist either just a preventative maint.nut.


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