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Hi,
Just a quick one - was doing some fettling earlier and noticed that the top jockey wheel (closest to the cassette) was quite wobbly - a fair amount of side to side play.
Is this normal on SRAM Rear mechs? Am used to shimano and there being basically no play (that I can notice)...
Cheers,
Rich
I thought Shimano jockey wheels were supposed to have lateral play to help maintain indexing?
Will check my GX when I'm home.
Cheers - much appreciated!
Should be able to take it back to the shop if it seems bust - just trying to save a bit of a round trip!
Thanks again,
Rich
The jockey wheels on GX1 are shit. Catch it early enough and you can eke a lot more life out of them if you're happy to regrease regularly (and I mean far more regularly than is reasonable).
Leave it too late and your ride will end in a crunch of gears and chain and the bearing will be reduced to what looks like biscuit crumbs (from painful experience).
Just yesterday I checked my jockey wheels on a GX rear mech that I've removed from a bike I'm flogging. Was surprised that the top one has almost stuck solid and hasn't freed up despite tlc.
Never considered buying aftermarket jockey wheels before.
Any recommendations?
It makes more sense for jockey wheels to use bushings anyway. I know they aren't as lovely as bearings, but in practical terms they make more sense to me.
Have re-greased (as much as I can) popped back in and done up the bolt. Still seems wobbly. Might do a quick video as a demonstration (as soon as Virgin Media sort out the uploading speeds. Currently at 0.02mpbs at the moment. Woo...)
Do the XX1/XO1 etc.. all fit the GX as well?
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.absoluteBLACK-12-Tooth-Sram-XX1-Pulleys-11-Speed_92035.htm
Rich
Blimey, they're expensive jockey wheels.
You could buy a complete NX rear mech for that... Not sure of compatibility mind.
Yes SRAM top jockeys are floating design to supposedly aid shifting. Don't worry about the wobble, that's normal.
SRAM jockeys in general are rubbish though, but more because they wear fast, don't shed mud well and the bearings seize.
Once dead, replace with CNC'd vented jockeys. Better with ceramic bearings.
Though newer SRAM jockeys do have narrow/wide teeth. I can't see why it needs it though. When do you loose the chain off a jockey, given the cage holds it in place?
Yup - pretty sure I saw a whole new GX mech for not a great deal more... (maybe £60)?
They are rather fancy pants ones - guessing you should be able to get more 'normal' ones for less...
Though newer SRAM jockeys do have narrow/wide teeth. I can't see why it needs it though. When do you loose the chain off a jockey, given the cage holds it in place?
Aye - wasn't sure about that either...
Ta for the reassurance - guess it gives me a bit of time to save up... 😯
I went through this fiasco with my XO1 mech recently. The SRAM jockey wheels would just develop loads of play after a few months. This would result in the shifting not being as crisp and occasionally the chain would jump off and get wedged between the jockey wheel and cage.
I just put in some normal Shimano jockey wheels for a bit as a temporary measure which worked fine. I've now put some hope 12t ones in. The bearings are last longer than the SRAM ones, but the noise of metal jockey wheels is a little annoying.
Any budget options that are compatible?
Once dead, replace with CNC'd vented jockeys. Better with ceramic bearings.
Are you able to recommend any as I think I might need to buy some soon?
Annoyingly the ones I liked originally then doubled in price. KCNC ceramic bearing jockeys.
I moved to Uberbike ceramic. They were great too. But they've stopped selling them and now do their own "made in UK" jockeys but they come with regular bearings. They sell ceramic bearings but adds a lot more cost and have to replace the stock bearings.
They weren't quite so good seals, but tighten up enough and some grease around the seals and fine. With ceramic (hybrid ceramic really, races are steel), if they do seize, just clean up insides, light oil and they're good again. SRAM jockeys once seized were utterly dead, no matter how much I tried to clean them up.
On the look out for decent priced but good ones again, though might resort to steel bearings. Main thing really is durability of the teeth and a vented design which sheds mud and much easier to clean.
There are cheap ebay ones but have heard mixed things about them. Generally not positive other than they're cheap.
Bit mental that decent, reasonably priced replacements can't be bought for these? 🙁
I broke one one an XX1 mech.
I found an old Shimano Deore 9spd mech in a box, took a jockey wheel out of that & put it in. That was probably 18 months ago.
Do people actually spend that kind of money on fancy jockey wheels? I'd just use the cheapest one I could find. It works fine.
Cool - got some spare new 11t ones floating around in the toolbox. If it starts getting a bit ropey, I'll pop that in as an interim.
Bonkers prices...
I'm also having this issue. Have managed to find some alloy bearing ones for £30 odd which at least means not getting royally screwed on those £46 ceramic ones, but I still feel like I'm getting really bummed here.