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As I hit order on a new set of jocket wheels for my XT rear mech (admittedly a very reasonable £10 for two BBB jockey wheels), I wonder if there is any reason why the existing jockey wheel cannot be modified to run without a bearing.
If the middle of the jockey wheel is drilled out very slightly, it would be able to freely rotate on the bolt holding it in place and the bearings would become redundant. Sure, it would be a bit wobbly and would wear down eventually, but since Shimano top jockey wheels are designed to move around anyway, what is the worst that can happen?*
*Admittedly I'm typing this in my office so don't actually have my jockey wheel in front of me to confirm if this all makes sense.
most jockey wheels don't have bearings - just bushes.
My experience is that I replace them more because they've worn away to disk with a vague wobble around the edge rather than actual teeth the chain can catch on than because the bearings/bushes have worn out.
The wear rate could be a nightmare (depending what you are riding in),and then it would mess up all the gear changing.
I have found that XT ceramic wheels outlasted plain old SLX wheels by lots of miles.
( and as Waswas says ,it's the teeth that go first)
Hmm, as I thought. Might need to have a look at it.
The teeth on this one have plenty of life left but it is a bit stiff to spin (not totally seized, but certainly nowhere near as free as the bottom jockey wheel).
Wear rate isn't an issue in the present situation - if it only lasted a month then it's still a month more than I would currently get out of it, as it is about to go in the bin anyway.
the BBB jockey wheels do need the seals to be pulled out and proper grease inserted when new to get a decent life out of them, imo.
Maybe you don't need teeth after all 😀
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the BBB jockey wheels do need the seals to be pulled out and proper grease inserted when new to get a decent life out of them, imo.
Noted thanks. I'll be replacing the original Shimano top jockey with the BBB and will give it a good greasing before it gets fitted.
most jockey wheels don't have bearings - just bushes.
Shimano have bushes, virtually all others have bearings.
The lower jockey wheel on a SRAM mech I had on the tandem gave up the ghost. After wincing at the price for replcaements I managed to find a set at reasonable price but had to wait for them on order. As a stop gap I used a spacer from a V brake pad bolt, machined to size on a belt sander and run as a bushing inside the seized bearing with a dob of grease. Worked a treat.
I'm sure the Shimano mechs I had years ago were all bushed, cost about £2.99 a set and I never noticed any shortcomings from that system!
I have found that XT ceramic wheels outlasted plain old SLX wheels by lots of miles.
They outlast the sealed XTR bearings too, in my experience
I replaced the ones on my XT rear mech with LX ones from CRC and they seem to be lasting for ages. I think they are just bushings....
Stumpy
I went the other way,I bought an SLX mech and the wheels were like cheese ,so upgraded them with XTs.
I think the where you ride might might make more of a difference .
Any Jockey wheel only lasts an hour in Kielder 😆
i havnt replaced my rear mech for about 2 years...and it shows lol.
The biggest issue like others have said isnt the brushing but the teeth wearing down, and pretty sure all the hype about ceramic bearings is just hype and offers little improvement given the teeth are going to be the same as a non ceramic jockey.
I actually had a SRAM jockey wheel seize when in the middle of nowhere which made it virtually impossible to pedal but it has never happened on a shimano jockey.
never had an issue with shimano bushes, they always outlast the teeth, but the teeth certainly do wear fairly quickly, im currently running 2 shimano shuriken stars on my mtb, i've ordered some tacx t4060 to see what they are like.
to cure the teeth problem they used to be all the rage in 1996 (probably because they were anodised bling)
Aluminium jockey wheels................think the general consensus was they made your shifting shite