From time to time, its good maintenance practise to flush the grease through the bushings on the axles, to keep everything running 100% sweet.
The IGUS bushings are made from a self lubricating polymer but since mountain biking is a dirty, wet environment it makes sense to do a little preventative work from time to time
Its very simple to use, and you can re-grease your bushings in less than 5 minutes using simply a 2mm allen key, grease gun and a rag
Stage One - remove the plastic cover from each of the grease ports, as seen in the image above
I have labeled the main pivots 1,2,3 and the smaller pivots 4
The main pivots have the grease port flushing system as these pivots take most of the load and have axles running through the frame.
The smaller pivots 4 do not need a grease port but its probably a good idea to disassemble it from time to time to clean it up and check everything is 100%
Stage Two - remove the set screw. Each pivot has a small set screw which is removed using a 2mm allen key - in the image above I am using a Park AWS-10 multi tool but in the workshop I would normally use a seperate 2mm allen key as its easier to rotate in a confined space
Before you get the grease in there and make things messy, its worth checking the pivot bolts and axle head are tight, take your allen keys and snug them up just to be sure
Once the set screw is removed from the pivot, you are ready to use the grease gun
Stage Three- greasing the pivot. I am using a Dualco grease gun with high quality waterproof bicycle grease. Push the gun tube into the pivot and pump the gun a couple of times, until you meet resistance and grease starts backing up
Replace the set screw, wipe excess grease with a rag and replace the plastic cover
Repeat this procedure for each of the main pivots 1,2 and 3
After the procedure, you will see dirty / old grease working its way around the pivot axle edges, this is normal and means your new grease has flushed your pivots clean, give this dirty grease a wipe clean otherwise it might end up on your nice riding pants :(
happy trails!
Rob C
