My sram rival rear mech jockey wheel seems to sieze up regularly now it’s winter. The bearing looks like a sealed unit and some penetrating spray etc has freed it temporarily.

Looking at replacement jockey sets they are expensive for what they are.

Anyone had any joy with aftermarket replacements? Are they worth the extra cash? Hope do alu versions with labyrinth seals… are they a reasonable upgrade and is the shifting accuracy better/ worse/ the same?

Any other decent replacements? I’ve seen the std sram pair for £33 online! Hope are about £35.

You can revive them by prising the seals off the bearings and repacking with grease. I’ve done this many times.

Ultimately they’re a wear item though and should be replaced. I like my superstar ali ones on my mtb. They run well and make a lovely quiet mechanical sound. I’ll get some for the cross bike (rival 1x) when the time comes.

Re-greased mine several times, with the interval between getting shorter, so got the Hope ones (in blue 👍) and never looked back

The bearings are a standard size and easy to swap. I bought a stash of replacements although haven’t had cause to use the yet due to the lack of CX this season.

Bearings just don’t seem to last long in a rear mech, but I’m not sure I prefer Shimano’s solution of bushings which seem quite draggy and prone to squeaking.

The originals are crap, bite the bullet now & replace with a pair of Hope ones, it’s what I did, no regrets.

Buy a shitload of cheap bearings and be prepared to service them a fair bit and replace them every few months.

I replaced mine last winter with Superstar ones. Been faultless since. Would recommend.