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Ball bearing grease buying guide

Updated: 23 October 2026

You have a dry hub, a squeaking headset, or a trailer wheel you can still take apart, and the tubs on amazon.co.uk sit between 4.6 and 4.8 stars. A ball bearing grease buying guide has to start with the bearing, not that cluster. Peter F., editor for DIY supplies, sets the order: whether you can pack it, which thickener belongs there, what NLGI 2 means, and whether you need a small tube or a 400 g cartridge. Prices are on our [ball bearing grease comparison](/hub/diy-supplies/ball-bearing-grease), captured on 19 October 2026. This is not a lab test. A qualifying amazon.co.uk purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have a dry hub, a squeaking headset, or a trailer wheel you can still take apart, and the tubs on amazon.co.uk sit between 4.6 and 4.8 stars.

Our top picks

Park Tool Park Tool HPG-1 High Performance Grease

Best overall

Park Tool Park Tool HPG-1 High Performance Grease
9.0/10about £10.99
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Zefal Zefal Pro 2 Grease 150 ml

Best value

Zefal Zefal Pro 2 Grease 150 ml
8.6/10about £5.29
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Comma Comma GR2400 Multipurpose Lithium Grease 400 g

Alternative

Comma Comma GR2400 Multipurpose Lithium Grease 400 g
8.2/10about £7.95
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On this page
  1. 1.Is the bearing one you can pack?
  2. 2.Thickener before brand
  3. 3.What NLGI 2 does and does not say
  4. 4.Tube or cartridge
  5. 5.Which pack to buy

Is the bearing one you can pack?

The first cut is whether the bearing opens. Cup-and-cone bike hubs and separate trailer cones can be cleaned and packed. A sealed cartridge, and a unitised trailer hub, cannot. The National Trailer and Towing Association says unitised hubs cannot be greased, and Knott says its unitised bearings are lubricated for life and are replaced rather than refilled. Pumping a nipple on a unit that was never meant to take more grease pushes lubricant past the seal and towards the linings. Knott's interval for separate bearings is on trailer wheel bearing grease. The hand method is on how to pack a wheel bearing with grease.

Thickener before brand

Lithium soap holds oil in a rolling bearing so it stays where the balls or rollers run. Lithium complex is the usual step when a wheel bearing runs hotter. Molybdenum disulphide is a solid for sliding or shock. It is not a stronger version of the same lithium grease for every ball bearing. Mobil does not generally recommend moly for high-precision rolling bearings, and Texaco UK says its Molytex EP 2 is not for high-speed rolling bearings. A headset and a CV joint are different jobs, set out on lithium grease vs molybdenum grease. SKF's UK chart marks lithium with calcium complex as incompatible. If the old film is an unknown colour, clean it out.
Park Tool Park Tool HPG-1 High Performance Grease

Testsieger

Park Tool Park Tool HPG-1 High Performance Grease
9.0/10about £10.99
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What NLGI 2 does and does not say

NLGI grade is stiffness, not a brand and not a temperature. A higher number is a stiffer grease, not a better one. Carlube XMM500's bullets say NLGI 2. Zefal Pro 2's bullets say grade 2, with 120 °C, on a 150 g tube at £5.29. Park Tool's own page states NLGI 2 for HPG-1. The amazon.co.uk listing does not. Comma GR2400 names wheel bearings and does not state NLGI. Do not copy another data sheet onto that ASIN. The dropping point is not the upper working limit. Knott names Shell Retinax EP2, now Shell Gadus S2 V220 2, at −20 °C to +130 °C, for its separate bearings. That name belongs to the hub maker, not to every lithium tub.

Tube or cartridge

A 40 g Weldtite tube at £4.49 is the sort of pack reviewers treat as enough for one bicycle. None of those fills a workshop gun for a season of trailer hubs. Comma GR2400 is the 400 g tube buyers fit to a gun. Carlube XMM500 is the moly jar for a CV joint or a slow pin, not a small fast bearing. A 12.5 ml printer lubricant is not a hub grease. Who should buy each listing is on the best ball bearing grease page.

Which pack to buy

Choose the small tube when you pack bike bearings by hand and the listing names that job. Choose the 400 g tube when you already own a gun and the hub maker has not named a different grease. Choose nothing when the hub is sealed.

Common questions

What does NLGI 2 mean for a ball bearing?
NLGI 2 is a consistency, not a promise of longer life. The NLGI glossary puts grade 2 at a worked penetration of 265–295 at 25 °C, and SKF says grade 2 is the most common choice for rolling bearings. Grade 1 is softer, for cold or oscillating duty. Grade 3 is stiffer, for large bearings, vertical shafts, heat, or vibration. If the listing does not print a grade, you do not have this number.
Is LM2 the same as a tested NLGI 2?
LM2 is trade shorthand for a lithium multipurpose grease. It is not, by itself, a worked-penetration test. Carlube XMG070 uses that kind of name and does not print an NLGI grade or a temperature. Carlube XMM500 is the jar in this set whose bullets do say NLGI 2, and that jar also contains molybdenum disulphide, so it is a different product. Read the bullets on the ASIN you are buying.
Can two greases be mixed if both say lithium?
Not safely, unless you know both soaps and SKF's chart allows the pair. SKF marks lithium with calcium complex as incompatible and tells you to remove the old grease. Amazon listings in this set do not tell you what is already in the hub. If the old grease is unknown, clean the bearing before you pack a new one.
Why is an SAE 20W-50 field on a grease page not the grade?
SAE J300 grades such as 20W-50, 0W, and 75W-140 describe engine and gear oils. On these grease listings they are leftover catalogue fields. BLUB's page prints 20W-50 beside a lithium bike grease. Liqui Moly LM 47 prints 75W-140. Neither figure is an NLGI grade, and neither tells you how stiff the grease is at 25 °C. Use the NLGI line, or accept that the listing has not given you one.
When is a 400 g cartridge the right pack?
A 400 g tube is the right pack when you already use a grease gun on nipples, chassis points, or several serviceable hubs. In this set Comma GR2400 is that tube, at £7.95, and reviewers fit it to a gun for trailers and universal joints. It does not print NLGI or a temperature, so it is not automatically the grease your hub maker named.

Related pages

Best ball bearing grease

Ball bearing grease

How to pack a wheel bearing with grease by hand

Lithium grease vs molybdenum grease for bearings

Trailer wheel bearing grease: cones and water

Sources

Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Listings stored 19 October 2026.

  1. SKF: selecting a suitable grease (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  2. SKF: grease compatibility (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  3. NLGI Ask the Expert, Q4 2025 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  4. NLGI: NLGI grade (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  5. HSE: SR19 lubricants and waste oil (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  6. HSE: GB CLP (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  7. Knott UK: hub fitting instructions (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  8. NTTA: boat trailers (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  9. Mobil: Mobilux EP 2 Moly (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  10. Texaco UK: Molytex EP 2 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  11. Park Tool: HPG-1 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  12. Shell: Gadus S2 V220 2 (retrieved 19.10.2026)