Campagnolo Record Ceramic Jockey Wheel Maintenance

mattbell
mattbell Posts: 203
edited April 2013 in Workshop
A while back I decided to pull apart my rear derailleur and degrease all of the jockey wheels to get rid of the built up grease and muck on the jockey wheels. Ever since I've rebuilt it I've never had that lovely smooth ceramic spin on the jockey wheels. Have I ruined them, or do they just need cleaning again, is there a specific lubricant I need?

Thanks

Matt

Comments

  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 16,547
    did you remove/refit the seals? check they're not dragging

    if the bearings have been greased or oiled they won't spin that freely, but it's not a problem, the drag from grease is tiny, the only long-spinning ceramic bearings i've seen had non-contacting seals and were lubricant free, even a bit of oil would significantly reduce spin time
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    Think of ceramic bearings like Britney Spears... they promise a lot, but they don't deliver much
    left the forum March 2023
  • mattbell
    mattbell Posts: 203
    sungod wrote:
    did you remove/refit the seals? check they're not dragging

    if the bearings have been greased or oiled they won't spin that freely, but it's not a problem, the drag from grease is tiny, the only long-spinning ceramic bearings i've seen had non-contacting seals and were lubricant free, even a bit of oil would significantly reduce spin time

    They're just the standard ones which come with campag. They're pretty simple, same construction as the standard ones on my other campag group sets. They consist of the connecting bolt, a small ceramic bearing which the jockey wheel spins on then a small metal cup on either side to keep the dirt out. I just pulled it apart like i have on my other campag derailleurs and it works a treat. I think the excess oil on the ceramic bearing is probably the problem then!
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    mattbell wrote:
    sungod wrote:
    did you remove/refit the seals? check they're not dragging

    if the bearings have been greased or oiled they won't spin that freely, but it's not a problem, the drag from grease is tiny, the only long-spinning ceramic bearings i've seen had non-contacting seals and were lubricant free, even a bit of oil would significantly reduce spin time

    They're just the standard ones which come with campag. They're pretty simple, same construction as the standard ones on my other campag group sets. They consist of the connecting bolt, a small ceramic bearing which the jockey wheel spins on then a small metal cup on either side to keep the dirt out. I just pulled it apart like i have on my other campag derailleurs and it works a treat. I think the excess oil on the ceramic bearing is probably the problem then!

    Here again you have two choices.
    1.) If it ain't broke don't fix it.
    2.) Fix it until it's broke.

    You're sort of sounding like you're leaning toward the latter. :wink:

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