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Quite some time ago we visited Maxima USA’s factory in San Diego, California for an depth tour of their manufacturing facility. We left with a handful of various products to keep our bikes running quiet and smooth. Among them was Maxima’s waterproof grease, a general purpose Lithium based grease that can be used for a broad variety of applications. It’s not a bicycle specific product, but they definitely recommend it for day to day use for bike maintenance and installations. As far as reviews go this will obviously be pretty brief.
Every mechanic needs to keep grease handy, and honestly even if you’re mechanically inept and don’t do much work on your own bike, you still need to keep some basics around for things as simple as keeping your seatpost running freely in your frame.
Details
Price : $8.95
Color : Blue
Weight : 16 Ounces
For use from -29°C (-20°F) to 293°C (560°F)
In Maxima’s words their waterproof frease “…is a smooth, E.P. Lithium complex multi-purpose grease manufactured in a NLGI #2 consistency- with the added benefits of a high density polymer to provide optimum service under most ambient temperature conditions. For use from -29°C (-20°F) to 293°C (560°F). This distinctive multi-functional lubricating grease has very good mechanical stability (won’t thin out under normal usage), has excellent resistance to water wash out, clings to metal surfaces under severe conditions as it effectively reduces the coefficient of friction. Maxima Waterproof Grease is fortified with non leaded extreme pressure additives for high load carrying ability and extra protection under shock loading conditions. Rust & corrosion inhibitors provide a further margin of superior performance and protection under a wide variety of adverse operating conditions. This high temperature lithium complex grease will work on bearings next to disc brakes as well as boat trailer axles & hubs used in salt water environments. Dark blue in color.”
Usage
We’ve been using this exact tub for nearly two years now and it’s something we get our hands into just about any time we work on a bike. In that time span we’ve had probably 20 or so bikes pass through our garage. Aside from full fork cartridge rebuilds and some brake bleeds that we were admittedly too lazy to deal with, we’ve done most of the routine maintenance, rebuilds and parts swaps on all of those bikes at home. The picture below shows just how small of a dent that we’ve put in this tub.
So what exactly have we used this for? Well there are a fairly large number of parts in the MTB world that require specific lubes for their given application; mainly with regard to suspension. So, when RockShox recommends a specific grease for their seals, you should probably use that and only that. When you need to keep a titanium bolt from backing out or seizing up, you should probably use titanium anti seize compound and not this grease. The point is, just because this is general purpose grease doesn’t mean it’s for everything. With that in mind, over time we’ve used this grease for the following :
• Hub rebuilds
• Driver body rebuilds(depending on brand, use very lightly)
• Headset/Bottom Bracket installs
• Crankset/Spider interface
• Front and Rear axles
• Seatpost/Seat tube interface
• Derailleur pulley rebuilds
• Various bearing rebuilds
• Various screws and screw heads
• Pedal/Crankarm interface
• Dropper post shaft seals(lightly)
• Cable housing/Ferrule interfaces
• Shifter internals
Performance
Our tester who’s been using the Maxima waterproof grease has spent about 8 years working in bike shops and used similar grease from competing companies such as Park, Finish Line, Phil Wood and Pedros. In his experience, this is far and away the best grease he’s come across and it certainly holds the best value. For comparison’s sake, a 3 ounce tube of highly coveted Phil Wood waterproof grease is $11 compared to 16 ounces of Maxima for $8.95. Prior to using this grease, we thought that Phil Wood was the best out there but always felt it was a bit on the sticky side. We love how easily the Maxima waterproof grease thins out and gets into all the right places upon application. It’s not overly thick but can withstand high temps and has excellent waterproofing properties. Everyone has their personal favorites in the shop and this has become one of ours. It withstands washes better and seems to last longer than other greases that we’ve tried in the past. Last but not least, we love the container.
