I need to replace my cassette and chain, and thought I’d replace my jockey wheels while I’m at it. It’s an X9 9-speed derailleur, about 3 years old. Should I just buy the replacement SRAM items, or are there smoother/longer-lasting alternatives?

those cheapish alloy ones on ebay look nice for the money, got a set coming myselfthink £11 posted for the pair and best bit is they are red!

Ah, I’m afraid red wouldn’t match my bike!

It looks like there may be a few versions of X9 jockey wheels, so I’d better try and remove mine before ordering replacements. Hopefully it won’t be too difficult a job.

I’ve just bought a pair of alloy ones from EBay for around £6 each.

They work just fine and take about 2 minutes to fit if you’re careful.

Cheap Ebay ones are fine but the bearings in mine seized solid after about 4 months. The KCNC ones are dearer, better, but even they seize up and then snap. When I next need some I will try some of the KCNC solid ones from XC racer. Not cheap, but would hope they would last. Bearings can be replaced provided the things don’t break

http://www.xcracer.com/shop/viewproduct.php?productid=231

Just don’t be tempted to fit a top pulley from the spares box in the bottom pulley position 😳

Got some Hope ones which are pretty good.

Just don’t be tempted to fit a top pulley from the spares box in the bottom pulley position

As far as I can see they are identical on X9?

SRAM jockeys are overpriced in my opinion.

KCNC – sheds mud far better and lasts a lot longer. Ceramic bearing version even more so though you pay more for it up front, but I’ve never had the bearings go.

And yes the SRAM jockeys are different for top and bottom. One is floating in that it’s designed to wobble to supposedly aid shifting. KCNC and others don’t have this, but I’ve never noticed any difference.

Thanks for that.

The bottom jockey wheel wasn’t spinning – it was tight in a couple of places, but the top one was okay. I removed them, and it looked like the bottom one had a thick black rubber shroud on one side. I later discovered that it was congealed (Purple Extreme) chain lube! It might be okay after a thorough clean, but I’m not sure how worn the teeth are etc, so I’ll probably go for a pair of ceramic ones – at least I’ll know they should be good for a while.

They look like standard jockey wheels with one large hole through the middle. Some of the X9 ones seem to have two locating holes of some sort. Anyway, these ones look like they’re be compatible with third party replacements.

I replaced the jockey wheels on my X0 mech with BBB ones.. can’t for the life of me remember where I got them. I might have been wiggle..