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