4/17/15 7:50 AM

the shifting on my gravel bike has been bad since the beginning. 10spd ergo, same as i have on all my bikes. but this setup has shifted like poo. vague, slow, inconsistent.

i figured it was down to a flaccid g-spring or broken g-spring carrier and just lived with it not wanting to spend the $/time on the fix and all that entails.

whilst washing the bike earlier this week i noticed the jockey-pulley was all cock-eyed, like seriously out of whack. turns out the deal was defective or something, as the bearing's fit had become completely loose and the pulley was able to flop around anywhere it wanted within the width of the cage. hence shatty shifting.

i pulled it out, cleaned well, then epoxied the bearing in place with trusty old JB weld. now shifting is laserlike in its precision, as i've always experienced with 10spd ergo. wally happy now!

here's the pulley before repair, it's a chi-chi aftermarket KCNC deal with full ceramic bearings. the gold anodized bearing cover is what is supposed to keep the bearing/pulley centered in the mech, but after all the riding in it's compromised state the outer perimeter is worn away:

<img src="http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzIyWDg0Mg==/z/e6MAAOSwrklVLAtE/$_4.JPG"><img src="http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzE2WDgxMQ==/z/iE4AAOSwBahVLAtA/$_4.JPG">

Last edited by walter on 4/17/15 10:58 AM; edited 1 time in total

4/17/15 10:24 AM

After having several non sense problems with aftermarket stuff like this, I only use Campy or Shimano parts/components. I never have a problem with them. Particularly hubs.

4/17/15 10:29 AM

...i want this! ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTvpyLLw0Bg

<img src="http://www.friction-facts.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/p/u/pulley_results_black_1.jpg">

4/17/15 11:15 AM

+1 for me on aftermarket varieties every time I have gone the route.

Walter, any chain damage to the insides of the cage plates ? I lost a DR due to not catching this in time once. Early Carmichael pulleys...

4/17/15 11:48 AM

the mech had ~250 miles on it since getting the new pulleys installed, figure the problem took a little while to materialize, so not too bad.

4/19/15 9:23 AM

Some of the OEM parts from Campag and even Shimano are really expensive, hence one might look to the aftermarket, and take their chances on a good deal.

I once got a pair of pulleys from Performance that were not radially centered on the bearings, so the cage would move back-and-forth as the pedals turned!

On this one, I made the switch to nine-speed chain, and wanted narrower pulleys to pull the cages closer together.
The bolt diameters are also 6mm, so these inexpensive aft'market pulleys do the job well since the little "hub cap" bushings could be drilled out. The ball bearings themselves are "thin" bearings with like a 10mm ID, so these are not mimicking OEM parts at all.
So far, after 2600mi, still working perfectly, but this picture shows them when they were still new.