[Closed] Jockey wheels; grease, oil, or dry ?

Yeah that's about right. I grease them when I install though.
Also, stick with OEM ones. Shimano ones are the best you can get, forget cheep Tacx and BBB ones, they're utter shite and flashy anodised ones are a waste of money, no improvement and noisy. Shimano ones even for some SRAM mechs these days too.

+1 on both of Peter's points. There also seems to be a little lateral movement in the bushings of the Shimano ones that you don't get with some of the bearings. Helps with variations in chainline using an expander sprocket and reduces wear on the jockeys.

The advantage of the bling anodised ones is that there less build up crud on the Jockey wheel.

Ok thanks.
My experience of Tacx ones a while back is that although they lasted as long as the previous Shimano ones, there was no real benefit.
I also understand why Shimano ones have some ' float' , it makes sense, that's why I stopped to think about lubrication , as whilst it's easy for cack to get in, that float allows for all sorts of grinding and wear !
Probably why they are cheap and easy to replace, I suppose.

the top jockey wheel (G pulley / Centron) has axial float to allow the gear indexing to work properly when you shift gear

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the lower jockey wheel is fixed so the chain precisely follows the cage line without fouling

light oil lubrication on the internals generally helps, the higher end ceramic G pulley benefits from some ceramic bearing grease

loctite for the pulley mounting bolts will prevent a long walk home...

ninja stars!

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Ha ! Made a few ninja stars over the years. 😳

Dry, lube attracts dirt and increases wear

I pack completely with thick grease, no room for water-silt-crud to get in.

stopped a problem I had occasionally with the tension pulley filling up with fine grit and seizing.

I pack them out with Grease, R'n'R Super web grease, As i tend to jet wash that area, gets covered in crap, i know all about not jet washing bikes but i'd rather ride it than clean it.

Loctite as above,

Grease, or a heavy oil such as the type you put in your car.

As for it attracting dirt - that's only if it gets on the outside, which it shouldn't if yours have rubber seals round the edge of the metal spacers/washers.

anyone know why shimano have they stopped using a centeron guide pulley on shadow mechs ..or at least some of them ?

The Ceramic Bush type doesn't really need any lubrication, although many years ago I had one that squeaked from new, until I put one drop of oil on it.
I've never seen a worn out ceramic bush, they outlast the wheel by miles, unlike the sealed bearing type.

As above really. I grease I've stripped them down but they generaly get a drop of oil whenever I do my chain.

I find the cheaper shimano ones work best. The bushings are much more roust in bad weather compared to bearings. I've had replacement ones with bearing seize but the bushings always keep going.

Depends on the bearing?

If it's the shimano shims from the pictures then use light thin geese so it doesn't drag compared to thick bearing grease.

Sealed bearings can be prised gently with a pin and inject some grease.

Don't use oil on the grease. Some oils can break grease down.