Forum menu
Replacing the chain on my MTB, and on stripping down the derailleur for a proper clean, the bearings on the jockey wheels are a bit graunchy, plenty of life left in the teeth.
Googling the Sram X01 replacements, they are £54! which whilst not the end of the world, was a mild surprise given I've only ever replaced old 8 and 9 spd jockey wheels in the past.. This appears to put me into Hope (and others) aluminium bling territory.
Any advantages to be had other than spangly colours - both existing jockey wheels are 12 tooth?
I got nice orange hope ones for my rival group set on my gravel bike. They’ve been good, no issues and even look nice. Bearings much better than the original sram ones.
Loads and loads of options available on Amazon, eBay etc. I generally plump for Superstar, and then absolutely ram the bearings full of heavy duty marine grease because I often submerge them. A periodic clean in white spirit, repack and away we go. My original GX wheels lasted less than 6 months of mostly summer riding. These are going strong 18 months on.
Just replace the bearings for a few quid. Easily done.
Very true. Lift the numbers off the old bearings, visit your local supplier or go online, job done.
I gave up on bearings in jockey wheels. Happily the 'cheap' versions are usually bushings and last forever e.g. I replaced my GX jockey wheels (bearings, expensive) with NX (bushings, cheap) and they've never seized again.
Even when I was replacing bearings I just found the new bearings would seize as well, perhaps wasn't forcing enough grease into them
Googling the Sram X01 replacements
3 lads I know have had the upper jockey wheel of a 12 spd sram mech disintegrate in the last year, bolt and bearing left in the cage but actual plastic wheel gone completely. 1 GX, 1 GX AXS AND 1 X01, I replaced mine with Hope's after the 3rd lad told me. I've also tried cheap alloy jockey wheels from ebay in the past, they bent on the first ride and would barely fit through the cage by the time I got back to the van
I've tried Superstar jockey wheels, and while they looked nice, and (unlike other jockey wheels) have a N/W tooth profile. They sound good, but they kept jumping off the chain and running out of sync, so you'd have to stop and fiddle with the lower wheel trying to finagle it back in alignment, otherwise your shifting would go to shit and it was noisy as ****.
They didn't last long.
+1 for superstar being annoying when the chain doesn't mesh with the NW profile. I switched to uberbike which arent NW and they've been fine for a year or so.
But if the teeth are OK on the current ones I'd probably just press in some new bearings
got cheap shite from ebay on the road bike. 2000 miles without a hitch. Probably not so good off-road though.
Dont bother buying new jockey wheels or even new bearings for them
Remove the jockey wheels, prise out both rubber seals from each bearing with the appropriate tool you have near by
Next prise out the plastic bearing cages, thus leaving the bearings in situ between the inner and outer race
Now soak/clean them in isopropyl alcohol, do the same for the two rubber seals and the plastic bearing cage
Once nice and clean allow them to dry or use a compressed air line etc..
Once dried refit the plastic bearing cage, simple as lining up the bearings and the cage pops back in place
Regrease with the grease of your choice, refit the rubber seals and they are good again
Been doing this to jockey wheels for 10+ years and ive never had to buy new ones due to bearing failure
I use nukeproof ones on all my XT 12sp mechs, not exactly bling, but function better than shimano ones, spinning better on decent bearings and have decent durability so far, I rate them and I'll replace with the same when worn out, there's different versions to suit other mechs.
Ok so success, I may have caused more damage overall to the seals but clean, repacked and grit free for now.
Thanks