How to replace jockeys?

Douglas Landau said:

Jockey WHEELS I mean!

I've no problem deciding that they should be replaced, but
when I last went looking, the shops didn't have them, and
said you have to buy a new derailleur. Maybe one shop said
that they could be ordered but would be expensive.

I went to many shops and didn't find any shimano pulleys
for sale but did find aftermarket aluminum ones with
sealed bearings. I went to the swap meets and found some
that were worse than mine I went to nashbar and
performance websites and found only aftermarket
aluminum. So I bought some Carmichaels and they were
noisy but worked.

Now my ultegra derailleur is toast and my derailleur
hangar is bent and has munged up threads. I see that the
chain wedged inbetween the side of the pully and the snail-shaped-
plate, and wonder if this would have happened with plastic
originals.

Where do y'all get yours?

You put your left leg in, you pull your...

I just cannibalized an old XT derailleur for its lower
jockey wheel to put on my XTR. Strangely enough, the XT's
upper pulley was totally toasted, whereas the XTR's was
almost sharpened (while lower had rounded off badly).

I used the Carmichael wheelies once years ago, and they
seemed to work fine. (I think I was in to Blue Annodized
Components at the time; have since matured...slightly.)

Not sure if roadie jockey wheels are same size as mountain
bike; I know my new DuraAce RD has HUGE pulleys compared to
the XT/XTR ders (or at least the cage shape makes it look
that way). Whether it makes any difference is another
question, too.

I'd just buy whatever you can find and slap 'em on there.

Bill "that's what it's all about" S.

Douglas Landau said:

Jockey WHEELS I mean!

I've no problem deciding that they should be replaced, but
when I last went looking, the shops didn't have them, and
said you have to buy a new derailleur. Maybe one shop said
that they could be ordered but would be expensive.

I went to many shops and didn't find any shimano pulleys
for sale but did find aftermarket aluminum ones with
sealed bearings. I went to the swap meets and found some
that were worse than mine I went to nashbar and
performance websites and found only aftermarket
aluminum. So I bought some Carmichaels and they were
noisy but worked.

Now my ultegra derailleur is toast and my derailleur
hangar is bent and has munged up threads. I see that the
chain wedged inbetween the side of the pully and the snail-shaped-
plate, and wonder if this would have happened with plastic
originals.

Where do y'all get yours?

Shimano ones are relatively expensive for what they are so
aftermarket ( Tack) pulleys are more popular as
replacement parts.

Yes, "sealed bearing" pulleys are sort of hokey but they
work, they fit, cost less and are available.

We stock Shimano, Campagnolo, vintage Suntour and Tacx.
Several friends stock them in their shops too. OTOH, it's a
running joke here that a certain Factory Outlet store has
black tape and 120mm stems and not much else. Maybe you need
to switch shops? Dozens of distributors sell 'em.

Aftermarket pulleys have an assortment of spacers to fit
many applications. Did you match the width? Finally, is
it possible that you removed the inner cage plate
completely and reversed that part? That would also
explain what you describe.
--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1
April, 1971