Rear mech jockey wheel assembly

ADL

A bit of a stupid question here...
I've cleaned seized jockey wheels of my SRAM x9 '08 reach mech. As soon as I tighten the bolt of the bottom wheel (no bushing there), it gets stuck; if I loosen it a bit, it rotates ok, but the dust covers rotate with the wheel. I thought that the covers should stand still with the wheel rotating between them, or it's all right?

nicklouse

sounds like you have missed something or added something.

birchy

Do the x9s have sealed bearing units in the jockey wheels like x0s, if so have you popped up the the seal and cleaned and regreased the actual bearings.

ADL

Thanks for the replies.

So that's how the jockey wheel looks like. I just took those plates off, cleaned and re-lubed the inside.

birchy

Does the beaing spin when the plates are off, if not can you see the little black ring (seal) around the bearing it may have some writing on it, use a needle to pick this out and the actual bearings are under there be careful not to bend it when you pick out, then i use some gt 85 to flush the crap out from between the bearings, then pack with grease and press the seal back in.
hope this helps

02gf74

looks like there is a seal bearing in the jockey wheel.

stick you finger into the hole and the jockey wheel should trun with the inner race mot moving, if not, the race is seized

ADL

Thanks guys!

d3matt

These are a similar design to the jockey wheels on my mates new (2010) Boardman Sport HT with SRAM X5. Although his X5 has an offset (and twin) mounting hole, the way the plates wrap around the bearing is exactly the same.
Like my SRAM X9 (which is even a worse design), we've found the bearings soon get stiff and start to seize up between rides. My bearings were oozing rust when I cleaned then with TF2 spray after only a few weeks of winter riding. And yes, you'll find you need to slacken off the jockey wheel bolt to keep them spinning.
I've now gave up on my SRAM jockey wheels and replaced them with KCNC wheels with ceramic bearings. You shouldn't need to do this when the SRAM derailleur is only a month old (and under warranty), but I got fed up of the jockey wheels being seized solid every time I got the bike out of the shed.

Many recommend the BBB jockey wheels as they have better bearings than the SRAM. I've not used them myself, but anything else would be better than the SRAM bearings.

ADL

d3matt wrote:

I've now gave up on my SRAM jockey wheels and replaced them with KCNC wheels with ceramic bearings.

I suppose they aren't compatible with SRAM x9 2008, are they?

d3matt wrote:

Many recommend the BBB jockey wheels as they have better bearings than the SRAM.

Went for these as the bearings in the original ones were just shot (in 3 years, unsurprisingly). I would say the BBB wheels spin nowhere as good as the original ones when they were new. Maybe I should also take them apart and re-grease, but it's not what you expect from a new thing.

d3matt

ADL wrote:

I suppose they aren't compatible with SRAM x9 2008, are they?

If you're X9 jockey wheels look like this, then yes.


But if they are like these, then no.

ADL

d3matt wrote:

ADL wrote:

I suppose they aren't compatible with SRAM x9 2008, are they?

But if they are like these, then no.

These ones.