Panic stations here and looking for some advice.

Did my last MTB ride before Relentless on Sunday – bit filthy, gave bike a half hearted clean and put it away ready for this weekend.
Went to pack the bike in the car last night ready to travel today, noticed a few very minor rust spots on chain and decided to spend a few mins clean and lubing, and this is where things went a bit wrong. Pedals wouldn’t spin backwards as jockey wheels had seized.

So took them out, opened them up and found that one had a damaged seal and no grease left in at all. And both were full of some mysterious strands of metal shrapnel! (wtf is this?)
Fished out all the crap with a screwdriver, stuck some new grease in and re-assembled – now spinning away fine, but with a damaged seal I expect this maybe wont last long.

So onto what I do now, do I:
A) Rush out to LBS and hope they have some 10speed X0 jockey wheels in stock and pay full price for them (~£40)
B) Rush out to LBS and panic buy a GX mech at full price (~£55)
C) Trust the rebuild will last through the event and get some bling hope jockey wheels online (~£30)
D) Trust the rebuild will last through the event and get a GX mech cheap online (~£40)
E) Trust the rebuild will last through the event and get a new X0 mech online (~£165)

Supporting info:
I’ll have a spare bike, and my partner will have a spare sram mech if the worst happens and they die again during event.
New mechs both give the advantage that they will be type 2.1 so I will gain a clutch as i’m currently running a type 1.
GX mech suffers from being heavy and UGLY, but is remarkably good value.

The X0 jockey wheels on herself’s bike died 2 years ago. I took them apart, cleaned them out with degreaser, let them dry and then packed them with good quality grease. 2 years later they’re still working just fine. We rode Tuscany trails this year – it was, errr…. damp, and muddy (the hills are made of marble so the sand is extremely abrasive), the jockey wheels are still working.

Good to know.
Would be a lot more confident in my rebuild if i’d not been so rushed and could have taken more time applying new grease, and if the seal on one wheel wasn’t damaged.

Sounds like they should at least last the event as long as I tell pit crew not to spray water at them.

Basic jockey wheels dont have proper seals, are these markedly different?

It will be the crud inside stopping them turning surely?

Basic jockey wheels dont have proper seals, are these markedly different?

It will be the crud inside stopping them turning surely?
6 part assembly for the x0 wheels (+ bearings)
The wheel itself
The inner cylinder
Two ‘seals’ appear to be thin metal plates with a very close fit
Two outer plates

Yes, I agree it was the combination of metallic crud and no grease left that was stopping them turning. However one of the ‘seals’ on the upper wheel has a substantial area that is worn away exposing the bearings (still partly protected by the outer plate obviously).

Just get yourself some of these http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ceramicspeed-pulley-wheels/rp-prod143293

Only £150

FOR

JOCKEY WHEELS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Decathlon- Tacx ones, £11, bearings not bushes, come with a variety of adapters.

Just get yourself some of these http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ceramicspeed-pulley-wheels/rp-prod143293

Not only that, but you also need a tame mechanic, or a lot of free time on your hands

It’s important that you properly lubricate your bearings in order to ensure optimal performance and maximum longevity. Add oil to the outside of the bearing seal, so that oil can penetrate the bearing. Do this when you lubricate your chain, or if you have washed your bike or have been riding in wet or muddy conditions.

^ that hardly sounds onerous. I tend to use BBB pulleys which are cheap and easy to find. Bearing life is short – treat them as disposables and keep a close eye on signs of seizure. I am in the habit of taking the seals off and putting grease in even when new but I can’t say it’s led to a great increase in useful life.
For the record I recebtly fitted some of BBB’s aluminium/ceramic bearing jockeys to my 10 speed Dura Ace mech and cured a peristent shifting problem. I don’t think the ceramics or aluminium have anything to do with it, but the non-float design probably has everything to do with it.

BBB Ceramics:£30 at CRC
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^ that hardly sounds onerous.

Taking the wheels off, removing outer plates and oiling seals EVERY wet or muddy ride is not onerous?
Thats ~3x wk for 10 months of the year. F* that!

I similarly had some X01 jockey wheels explode. I didn’t fancy spending £30 on new ones so am giving a set bought on ebay a go which cost £2.40. Three rides in they’re still doing the job. They run on a bush rather than a bearing but if I get more than 2 months out of them I’m onto a winner considering the proper ones lasted less than 2 years.

If your default is to buy online to save a few £s, bear in mind that at some point in the future options (A) and (B) may not be open to you since the LBS will have closed down…

The added value of going to the LBS is that you could take the thing in and get an actual expert (assuming your LBS is any good of course) to look at it and advise you how ferked they are and whether they’ll survive the weekend?

If your default is to buy online to save a few £s, bear in mind that at some point in the future options (A) and (B) may not be open to you since the LBS will have closed down…

TBH, they’ve got far bigger problems than me buying jockey wheels online.
Took a friend in a few weeks back looking to buy his first road bike. He wanted to sit on a Giant Defy (common bike) in a medium (common size) to see how geometry was. No mediums in stock or display…..
Cost themselves £1k right there.

The added value of going to the LBS is that you could take the thing in and get an actual expert (assuming your LBS is any good of course) to look at it and advise you how ferked they are and whether they’ll survive the weekend?

They have a busy workshop, cant expect them to drop everything to look at my problem immediately, and even if they did, they’d be perfectly within their rights to charge a labour cost to do so.

Only £150

FOR

JOCKEY WHEELS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ll see your £150 and raise you: £320

The (single) review is brilliant:

These Jockey wheels are an incredible deal for anyone wanting to step up from a beginner mountain biker to an amateur. Great value for money and quite possibly the best value upgrade for your Mtb! These jockey wheels allowed me to demolish my local king of the mountain time by an extra 3 second on my first attempt With them (I now have the top 7 times)!
Would definitely recommend for anyone considering a next level upgrade for their bike. Do not hesitate and get in quick while stocks last!!

Alas, I would need 4 seconds to demolish my local KOM so totally not worth it for me if they only give 3. 😀

Sorry what was the question?

Can you really not get jockey wheels for less than £30?

Sorry what was the question?

Can you really not get jockey wheels for less than £30?
The question was more: Do i need to panic and get replacements right now or should I trust my masterful mechanicing and get replacements later.
And when I do replace is it perhaps worth changing whole mech to get a clutch?

The answer seems to be no panic and no mech.

Certainly no problem paying £30, and the Hope’s are really very pretty and have good reviews.

I’d agree as long as they spin round then no panic.

🙂

The hope jockey wheels are really nice. I bought them for new brand new mechs as a bit of pointless colour coordinating bling for 3 of my bikes. I say pointless but they are a few years old now and i haven’t had to touch them and they still run as smooth as the day I bought them.

And when I do replace is it perhaps worth changing whole mech to get a clutch?

Are you running 1x or drop your chain regularly? If yes get a clutch mech
If no then it’s not going to make much difference

Taking the wheels off, removing outer plates and oiling seals EVERY wet or muddy ride is not onerous?
Thats ~3x wk for 10 months of the year. F* that!

It doesn’t say that.

I’ve got a pair of Sram X9 jockey wheels you can have for £5. I killed the mech with a big rock, but the wheels are obviously OK. If you’ve not solved it all already…
Drop me a message if interested. I’ll be back in the UK from Wednesday.

papercutout – Member

I’ve got a pair of Sram X9 jockey wheels you can have for £5. I killed the mech with a big rock, but the wheels are obviously OK. If you’ve not solved it all already…
Drop me a message if interested. I’ll be back in the UK from Wednesday.

I’ll have em if the OP doesn’t want them. Can’t see an email in your profile, but mine is so drop me a message. Cheers.

Sorry, went to Relentless and forgot all about this thread!
Good news is the jockey wheels didn’t die – yet!

Still not decided what to do yet, but that bike won’t be seeing much action for the next couple of months. Go ahead legoman, they are all yours if he still has them.

And my lower wheel finally died a death.
Went to ride the bike and spun the cranks backwards and found a lot of resistance.
Quick check revealed lower wheel spinning very off centre, and attempting to remove it resulted in it exploding all over the garage. After gathering up the bits I found the seals/inner plates were worn away to virtually nothing and were no longer in any danger of gripping the inner cylinder.

New Hope wheels ordered.

https://www.uberbikecomponents.com/category/473/Stainless-Bearing-Jockey-Wheels

https://www.uberbikecomponents.com/category/473/Stainless-Bearing-Jockey-Wheels

Doh! Wish you’d posted that before, they look great.