I’ve got the urge to add a bit of bling to my roadie – and i’m quite tempted by shiny alloy jockey wheels.

They’ll be going on 10 speed 105, which will get upgraded to 11 speed 105 at some point.

There appears to be loads of choice (KCNC/Hope/Mt Zoom/etc)
Any one have any experiences?

One thing I am aware of is the upper jockey wheel in my mech has a small amount of lateral travel (which I assume is to help the chain climb smoothly onto/off the different sprockets.
Do any of the alloy jockeys do this?

cheers in advance…

I’ve got a few sets of cheap ebay ones. They’ve been fine. In fact, the bearings seem to have lasted longer than the standard SRAM and shimano ones.

Shimano top jockeys have (or at least had) a little float. Can’t say swapping to CNC’d ones ever caused a problem though they don’t have float (at least, not my ones).

Point to note, I do pack the bearings with more grease when I get them.

http://www.ceramicspeed.com/sport/products/PulleyWheels

+1 for ceramic speed, no point spending more really.

I always found the bushed Shimano ones to be best. No bearings to seize. Strikes me that by moving from plastic to metal you add weight to boot. Maybe fancy jockey wheels have improved since I was using them 20 years ago but I doubt it.

Uberbike do them for, I think, £25.

Are there any that last longer than standard XTR ones, mine would make a ninja happy they’re that pointy!

I’ve had a few sets of the KCNC ones, more because they ae so pretty than anything else. They are light (being mostly air when compared to plastic ones) and the bearings are good – but on a mountain bike they do wear out. Probably last a bit longer than plastic. On a road bike they should be fine.

+1 for ceramic speed, no point spending more really.

At 199euros, I would hope not! 😯

🙂

Had some Hope ones, they looked sweet but I don’t think they lasted any longer than normal ones (which I went back to after they wore out!)

+1 for ceramic speed, no point spending more really.

At 199euros, I would hope not!

Hahaha! – I noticed that as well.. was thinking more along the lines of £25-£30..

But you get a free sticker with the ceramic speed ones 🙂

nickc

+1 for ceramic speed, no point spending more really.
At 199euros, I would hope not!

That’s cheap when compared with 800 euros for the Printed Hollow Ti ones!!!

800 Euros!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

eight flipping’ hundred!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have hope ones on a few of my bikes but for no other reason than they look good.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/skcg6T]Untitled[/url] by andysredmini, on Flickr

My hope ones weren’t very good. Look lovely though.

Marginal gains taken to the extreme!

My Hopes still going after 2 chains and i cassette – much of the colour has worn off the teeth and the slots are a bit of a pain to clean.
They strip down for cleaning well though and are still running smooth – will buy again 😀

I had some KCNC steel BB ones that lasted for 4 years. Occasional regrease of the bearings. Eventually a number of the teeth broke away and the remainder were sharp. I changed them maybe 1 year ago. Replaced with the same, but the bearings on the new ones are needing a lot more attention. Fairly regular regreasing, so not so sure if these are any better than Shimano TBH.

I had some KCNC ones. Maybe I was unlucky but I found the bearings went very quickly.

Am still using the wheels off busted mechs

Haven’t actually bought any wheels for years

My Mt Zoom, Aerozine and KCNC last way better (bearings and teeth) than the stock jockeys. They seem to shed the crap on a really muddy ride much better too.

I’ve got mixed feelings about my Hopes. The bearing will probably last forever (with the occasional re-grease) but after only a couple of wet rides I noticed they seemed to be seized up the next day. I think it was due to the alloy outer caps corroding slightly. To be honest, I’ve not noticed this following a few months riding.

800 Euros!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 watts though

Only bad experiences of eBay ones where bearings failed very quickly. Gone back to plastic bushings

I wasn’t impressed with the cheap alloy ones that I ran last year.
They wore out quicker than BBB rollerboys and were less well sealed so the bearings went sloppy quickly.
When one ultimately wore down and failed in use, it bent/broke at the teeth, rendering it unusable. If I hadn’t had a spare jockey wheel in my pack, I’d have been walking home from the top of Nan Bield.
My point: if they fail, they fail catastrophically. You won’t limp home on a failed one.

Pro tip-if a jockey wheel jams, just take it out entirely, let the chain run on the spindle. (or, with some, on the bushing body). It’s not perfect but it’ll generally get you home. The spindle might end up too worn to reuse, meaning a new mech but then you needed new wheels anyway and you can just buy the cheapest equivalent and swap bits, giving you handy spares too.

Ceramic ones last forever but expensive

Got some bling Aerozine ones that cost double the normal price of jockeys, they bent first ride. Oooooo how I turned the air blue, twice as much to last one ride arrrrrgggggggggg lesson learnt never ever again.

I had some KCNC ones which lasted really well off road. I got sa couple of years out of them, with minimal wear. One day we went on a longish ride (120 miles I think) and long sections were in soft, damp sand. When I got home, they had worn away to nothing!

I have had a pair on my winter roadie for several years, they were on my crosser before that and I got them second hand on here. Apart from a few bits of anodising wearing off, they look like new.

Are they worth the money? Not sure really, but they look cool.

I had some Hope ones. They lasted longer than XT, but nowhere near long enough to justify the price.

I have ceramic bearing ones from Uberbike not had them long enough to see how they wear but they seem to clear mud a lot better than the XT ones did.

Bought some Aerozine’s for the road bike. They instantly made my drivetrain noisier so went back to Shimano’s. Will not buy them or any other metal ones again.

Replaced the exploding SRAM ones with a Hope, look great and so far working nicely.

I’ve used hope’s, the slots in them are a magnet for crap and a pain to clean. Bearings lasted well, it was the teeth that wore out. Since gone back to XT, they last and work just as well, are easier to clean and cheaper to replace.