In the past I have always given my rear mechs a strip down at least once a year. Give everything a good clean, grease jockey wheel bearings/bushes and try to get a bit of lube in the pivots and maybe lube threads of limit screws.
Current bike has Sram X01 mech that has had no attention for a year since new. Bike is in stand as forks/shock been away for service/tune and I'm not riding because of injury so thought I'd give everything a service.
Had a look at sram manual and all it says for maintenance is cleaning. Mech has a little dirt on it and jockey wheels have a bit of putoline build up but spin fine and smoothly. Is it worth a strip down, disturbing limit screws etc? What do you guys do?
Rear mech servicing?
What's that then? I clean mine a few times per year.
You can strip a SRAM mech down completely without much difficulty, taking the parallelogram apart and everything. You need to do this when the low quality plastic bushes fail and the mech gets stiff. I did it to my XX1 and to be honest it made no difference, once they're goosed they're goosed.
I wouldn't call it a service, but I might put a drop of lubricant onto the hinges every now and then.
Didn't know that @munrobiker always had shimano in the past. @scotroutes I have a lot of time on my hands at the moment 🙂
I spray mine with WD40 or GT85 in the winter but that's just to help prevent it icing up.
My servicing is pretty much replace it when it breaks! It might get a drop of lube when I remember
Don't you just smash them on rocks before their first birthday? No need for an annual service! Got to take the positives from every situation.
erm, it gets hosed off after any particularly filthy rides, and a bit of GT85 or wet-lube when I'm feeling tinkery. Honestly, I've never considered it to be a part that needs servicing up until recently seeing a GMBN video on "servicing your rear mech in real-time". After seeing that I might pop the clutch cover off every now and then and make sure it's not full of grit.
Bit of oil on pivot points but I have always mainly concentrated on the jockey wheels to be honest.
I’ve found mine gets really difficult to shift and I open up the clutch and take it apart to clean and regrease.
Shimano ones aren't difficult to take apart and grease. Unsurprisingly they work better afterwards 😃. Also useful for making one working mech out of several broken ones 🙄.
Change the jockey wheels when they look like ninja throwing stars and spray some lube at the pivots.
Thats about it really.
I squidge a wee bit of lube near the jockey wheels. Sometimes, I squint at it from behind and if I decide something's bent I'll give it a quick push which does nothing.
Free off and grease top pivot off it seizes (only seen that on customers' bikes), jockey wheels might need work, that's it.
Well, I'm gonna go ahead and service as much of mine as possible. Told you I have time on my hands and it can only do good. Plus, I'm a tight arsed yorkshireman that likes things to last as long as poss.
If it ain't broke, don't... Whoops, too late 🙃
Thorough clean, jockey wheels off and cleaned, GT85 on all pivots and jockey wheels back in.
Hardly a service, just a clean.
Mine last for ages
Sometimes the barrel adjuster seizes also
Every few weeks or after a particularly muddy ride I'll clean and regrease the clutch after I had one seize a while back. Other than that it's just keep the jockey wheel bearings spinning freely and a quick squirt of GT85 on the pivots every other ride or so. Considering what a rear mech does and the abuse they take it's amazingly simple and easy to keep them running well!
SRAM Jockey wheels need looking after. I've now replaced mine with BBB. I don't like how the metal caps do trap dirt between it and the rubber seal - had the seal damaged twice after really grubby rides. The BBB jockey's use a smaller 'spacer' rather than an end cap. If they are anything like Tacx jockey's they will last until the teeth wear out.
I just keep the mech clean and a squirt of GT85 or Muck Off protect and shine.
I do mine once a year, videos online.
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Pretty sure Shimano recommend servicing the clutch on their derailleurs, Google Shimano clutch service, I've done it once and it took about 15 mins iirc and I occasionally remove and clean the jockey wheels
drip a bit of oil in the jockey wheels and pivots a couple of times a year. Thats all I do
I had to buy a complete new (shimano 105) rear derailleur for wife's bike last week because the cable tension adjuster screw had seized.
So, from now on I WILL be servicing/lubing rear mech.
I had to buy a complete new (shimano 105) rear derailleur for wife’s bike last week because the cable tension adjuster screw had seized.
Or you could have just fitted an inline cable adjuster 😉
Regularly clean my rear mech with GT85 and a toothbrush then squirt silicone spray around the pivots and drip some oil in the outer cable at the shifter, I service the clutch and jockey wheels once a year.
Every few weeks or after a particularly muddy ride I’ll clean and regrease the clutch after I had one seize a while back.
Also, learned the expensive way that taking the clutch cover of a shimano rear mech and greasing it will stop the spring from rusting solid killing the mech.
Apart from that, mine don't normally last long enough to require a service 🙁
After wash and brush to clear old mud I just dismantle the jockey-wheels and clean them up fresh in and out. Reassemble. Wipe the mech down with oily rag and Roberto is your padre’s hermano...