Rear derailler pulleys

motorhommer said:

I have rear Deore 9 speed derailller. Bike has about 6k miles on it. How do I know if the rear pulleys are worn or not ?
What would you replace them with, I have heard the Tacx ones wear out quickly.
Lastly should one just do nothing and eventually just replace the entire derailler due to price differences.

Thanks

If it's still working, then just keep riding!

The pulleys are very tolerant of wear. If you decide they are suffering in shifting quality(which in latter stages they would slow the shifting for excessive lateral play) Then look for ones with cartridge bearings. XT and XTR have them stock, and a few brands make refit sets for 16-20 bucks. For all intensive purposes the cartridge type will last you forever, or at least nearly.

motorhommer said:

How do I know if the rear pulleys are worn or not ?

Look at the shape of the teeth. For support compare with a pic of a new pulley/RD. If tooth shape is significantly altered a replacement might be due. They can take a lot of wear before performance becomes compromised though.

Quoted post said:

What would you replace them with, I have heard the Tacx ones wear out quickly.

Whatever fits and takes your fancy. They are not massively critical components. I've had trouble with seals and bearings on one no-name dirt cheap replacement, but nothing that hand tools and a drill bit couldn't handle. It ran OK after that.

Quoted post said:

Lastly should one just do nothing and eventually just replace the entire derailler due to price differences.

I wouldn't, but then maybe you've got more money to spend than I have, or insist on using more expensive spares?

dabac said:

Look at the shape of the teeth. For support compare with a pic of a new pulley/RD. If tooth shape is significantly altered a replacement might be due. They can take a lot of wear before performance becomes compromised though.
Whatever fits and takes your fancy. They are not massively critical components. I've had trouble with seals and bearings on one no-name dirt cheap replacement, but nothing that hand tools and a drill bit couldn't handle. It ran OK after that.

I wouldn't, but then maybe you've got more money to spend than I have, or insist on using more expensive spares?

Great, thanks for all the info. No I don't like to replace anything that can be properly mended and reused.