Ooops - worn jockey wheel

[Ajax Bay]

Out of interest, how many thousand miles did you get from them?

Reposting a February post of mine:
My ninjas needed replacing (see image; includes relatively new one for comparison). I suspect that they were the originals (ie with the 105 RD) so had about 20,000km on them.
Replaced with basic BBB sealed roller bearing ones (£10 the pair from my LBS).
On advice from my LBS I prised off the seal on the new ones (tip of Stanley knife: clicks off easily and clicks back on fine) and thumbed some more grease in there
Threadlock on the screws.

 

[a.twiddler]

Amazing how long they actually last for an item made of plastic. I used to obsess about things decades ago and bought some spare Shimano jockey wheels in the 80s. Never needed to change any despite wearing out chainrings, chains and freewheels/cassettes (though did upgrade, meaning replacing complete rear derailleurs once or twice). Probably the design has changed over the years, but I only used some of my spares on a 7 speed set up a few weeks ago.
A simple design, taken for granted, abused and neglected. Jockey wheels are the unsung (not unsprung!) heroes of cycling.

 

[cyberknight]

Interesting suggested the same to club mate with the same issue

 

[fossyant]

A simple design, taken for granted, abused and neglected. Jockey wheels are the unsung (not unsprung!) heroes of cycling.

Unless SRAM. They are pants. Replaced mine with BBB Roller boys. Issue with SRAM is the seals aren't great and the 'end caps' trap mud and grit between it and the rubber seal - friction then damages the seal.

 

[BrumJim]

Couldn't get mine to go pointy:

 

[Soltydog]

My Van Nic has done over 13k miles, I'm off to garage now to check Jockey wheels 😄

 

[davidphilips]

Have seen bikes that have been serviced by lbs that even had new chain and cassette fitted, still with worn jockey wheels/ Personally i check not only jockey wheels but also wheel skewers and find when i do some work on friends bike am often surprised not only to find worn jockey wheels causing poor shifting but gritty/sticking skewers that look like they have never been lubricated or even skewers that are well past there bin date with cracked plastic/rubber cam plates.
Know i have been called ocd when it comes to maintenance but way i look at it is better to spend a bit of time and money at home than have a breakdown far away from home or even an accident i could have avoided.

 

[Blue Hills]

Have seen bikes that have been serviced by lbs that even had new chain and cassette fitted, still with worn jockey wheels/ Personally i check not only jockey wheels but also wheel skewers and find when i do some work on friends bike am often surprised not only to find worn jockey wheels causing poor shifting but gritty/sticking skewers that look like they have never been lubricated or even skewers that are well past there bin date with cracked plastic/rubber cam plates.
Know i have been called ocd when it comes to maintenance but way i look at it is better to spend a bit of time and money at home than have a breakdown far away from home or even an accident i could have avoided.

have never lubed skewers, and I'm someone who lubes/greases pretty much anything with metal to metal contact - do you really need to?

 

[davidphilips]

have never lubed skewers, and I'm someone who lubes/greases pretty much anything with metal to metal contact - do you really need to?

Tbh internal cam skewers are so good they can go for decades with no maintenance but yes they should be cleaned and a drop of oil put into the cam and on the axle, the more modern external cam type that are lighter but offer less clamping force should be kept clean and inspected as some of the cheaper skewers have hard rubber or plastic parts that crack and can lead to failure.

Both types work better if kept clean and a drop of oil on there cam but again be careful with oil on external cam using plastic or rubber parts as oil may deteriorate these bits, the better skewers use alloy or brass.

Had an external cam front skewer fail on me a few years ago and since then stopped using them, only my view but even an old set of shimano skewers (far as i know shimano dont make external cam) are for better than any high end external cam skewer?

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Amazing how long they actually last for an item made of plastic. I used to obsess about things decades ago and bought some spare Shimano jockey wheels in the 80s. Never needed to change any despite wearing out chainrings, chains and freewheels/cassettes (though did upgrade, meaning replacing complete rear derailleurs once or twice). Probably the design has changed over the years, but I only used some of my spares on a 7 speed set up a few weeks ago.
A simple design, taken for granted, abused and neglected. Jockey wheels are the unsung (not unsprung!) heroes of cycling.

My Eastway is six years old and still on its original jockey wheels, last time I checked they were still OK.

 

[Blue Hills]

Replaced the jockey wheels on a near 20 year old Ultegra 9 speed rear mech a couple of years ago - still going strong on its second bike - I really those "old fashioned" solid metal rear mechs with no tin or plastic to speak off. Find them almost sculptural, little concern for weight saving. So have bought a couple of second hand spares