How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets? (jockey/pulley wheels)

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Jules59
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Joined: 16 Jan 2019, 2:34pm

How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets? (jockey/pulley wheels)

Post by Jules59 »

Just back from a Munich to Rome tour courtesy of Peak Tours.
The chain has gone from 0.5 to 0.75 on the wear scale and so this getting replaced. As I've got the wheels and cassette off I wondered if I should take the derailleur sprockets apart and service them.
How often do people dismantle their sprockets ?
Last edited by Jules59 on 30 Sep 2022, 3:47pm, edited 1 time in total.
peetee
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Joined: 4 May 2010, 10:20pm
Location: Upon a lumpy, scarred granite massif.

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by peetee »

Remove, clean and replace cassette (wheel) sprockets and derailleur pulley wheels and (if possible - some are fixed) the crank toothed rings too. Any muck and wear-inducing particles that were present on the chain will also be present on those items so will quickly coat the new chain if you leave them dirty.
The older I get the more I’m inclined to act my shoe size, not my age.
jois
Posts: 334
Joined: 22 Sep 2022, 12:29pm

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by jois »

Jules59 wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 9:01am Just back from a Munich to Rome tour courtesy of Peak Tours.
The chain has gone from 0.5 to 0.75 on the wear scale and so this getting replaced. As I've got the wheels and cassette off I wondered if I should take the derailleur sprockets apart and service them.
How often do people dismantle their sprockets ?
Never, I might point a tin of WD40 in their general direction from time to time.

It has fallen into the life is to short to worry about category
Nearholmer
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Joined: 26 Mar 2022, 7:13am

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by Nearholmer »

Never, because it seems to me that it is possible, with a bit of care and poking about, to get all of the wearing interfaces clean without doing so. Jockey wheels I do sometimes take out, because they are impossible to get clean, and certainly impossible to get free of entangled strands of grass, without doing that.

I’m now borderline obsessive about cleaning all the wearing interfaces, because it’s so blasted expensive to buy new bits when they do wear out, a lesson I learned the expensive way.

PS: Have I given a contradictory answer, because I’m using a different name from the OP for the same part?

If so, the answer is: as often as necessary, which varies between every ride and many weeks. I do ride a lot @cross country” on bridleways though, which gets jockey wheels a lot dirtier and more entangled than road riding.
peterb
Posts: 392
Joined: 2 Dec 2017, 10:13am

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by peterb »

When I fit a new chain, I clean the whole drive-train, derailleurs, cassette, chain rings. If the cassette is very dirty I take it off and dismantle it, chainrings and jockey wheels likewise. I don't lubricate the cassette sprockets or the chainrings, just the chain. Jockey-wheels replaced if necessary, otherwise cleaned and greased.
jois
Posts: 334
Joined: 22 Sep 2022, 12:29pm

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by jois »

Nearholmer wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 2:16pm Never, because it seems to me that it is possible, with a bit of care and poking about, to get all of the wearing interfaces clean without doing so. Jockey wheels I do sometimes take out, because they are impossible to get clean, and certainly impossible to get free of entangled strands of grass, without doing that.

I’m now borderline obsessive about cleaning all the wearing interfaces, because it’s so blasted expensive to buy new bits when they do wear out, a lesson I learned the expensive way.

PS: Have I given a contradictory answer, because I’m using a different name from the OP for the same part?

If so, the answer is: as often as necessary, which varies between every ride and many weeks. I do ride a lot @cross country” on bridleways though, which gets jockey wheels a lot dirtier and more entangled than road riding.
I may be slightly more fastidious about chain and associated equipment maintenance if I was faced with spending many hundreds on replacements. But most of my spares are rescued from dumped bikes. I'm currently running a chain wheel ,chain and hydro brakes that came out of the canal thanks to some benevolent magnet fisher men. Sunday tea time is ussualy good for a spares run, before someone throws them back in again
Jules59
Posts: 420
Joined: 16 Jan 2019, 2:34pm

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by Jules59 »

So I took one of the sprockets out to find it has a sealed ball bearing, unlike my previous bike which had just a bush. So nothing to lube - just a clean up.
mattsccm
Posts: 5101
Joined: 28 Nov 2009, 9:44pm

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by mattsccm »

I yank them out if they get stiff or noisy. If they have a bearing I pop the seals and grease. If a bush I grease. Mostly I lob them in the bin as they don't go noisy until knackered.
peetee
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Location: Upon a lumpy, scarred granite massif.

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by peetee »

Jules59 wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 10:29pm So I took one of the sprockets out to find it has a sealed ball bearing, unlike my previous bike which had just a bush. So nothing to lube - just a clean up.
Is there a bit of confusion here about what a derailleur sprocket is?
Either it’s a pulley wheel (there are two) that is part of the rear mech
Or it’s a cassette sprocket (the derailleur moves the chain across them) mounted on the rear wheel.
The older I get the more I’m inclined to act my shoe size, not my age.
cycle tramp
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Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by cycle tramp »

..er, I'm supposed to do what now....?
Motorhead: god was never on your sidehttps://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=m ... +your+side
Jules59
Posts: 420
Joined: 16 Jan 2019, 2:34pm

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by Jules59 »

peetee wrote: 28 Sep 2022, 11:29am
Jules59 wrote: 27 Sep 2022, 10:29pm So I took one of the sprockets out to find it has a sealed ball bearing, unlike my previous bike which had just a bush. So nothing to lube - just a clean up.
Is there a bit of confusion here about what a derailleur sprocket is?
Either it’s a pulley wheel (there are two) that is part of the rear mech
Or it’s a cassette sprocket (the derailleur moves the chain across them) mounted on the rear wheel.
No confusion on my part. :D
My understanding is that sprockets have teeth and are used for chains (or caterpillar tracks), pulleys have no teeth and are used with belts or ropes.
Cassette sprockets don't have bearings as they are fixed to the freehub.
The two Derailleur sprockets fit in the rear mech cage (Some people do refer to these as pulleys though) and have a variety of bearings.
peetee
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Joined: 4 May 2010, 10:20pm
Location: Upon a lumpy, scarred granite massif.

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by peetee »

Understood. Sometimes these threads start and it’s difficult to tell just how accurate the OP is being with specific terms. In this case, however, it seems you are being far more accurate than the manufacturers. Chapeau!
:wink:
The older I get the more I’m inclined to act my shoe size, not my age.
axel_knutt
Posts: 2881
Joined: 11 Jan 2007, 12:20pm

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by axel_knutt »

peetee wrote: 29 Sep 2022, 9:40am Understood. Sometimes these threads start and it’s difficult to tell just how accurate the OP is being with specific terms. In this case, however, it seems you are being far more accurate than the manufacturers. Chapeau!
:wink:
I assume the manufacturers named them pulleys because the ones on early derailleurs had no teeth.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154840124187 ... 55f8d0b289
“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
jois
Posts: 334
Joined: 22 Sep 2022, 12:29pm

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by jois »

axel_knutt wrote: 29 Sep 2022, 1:43pm
peetee wrote: 29 Sep 2022, 9:40am Understood. Sometimes these threads start and it’s difficult to tell just how accurate the OP is being with specific terms. In this case, however, it seems you are being far more accurate than the manufacturers. Chapeau!
:wink:
I assume the manufacturers named them pulleys because the ones on early derailleurs had no teeth.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154840124187 ... 55f8d0b289
Strictly speaking I'd call them idler wheels or gears. As they do nothing at all apart from keep the chain off the metal, so idle as far as the drive chain s concerned
Jules59
Posts: 420
Joined: 16 Jan 2019, 2:34pm

Re: How often do you dismantle and lube derailleur sprockets?

Post by Jules59 »

axel_knutt wrote: 29 Sep 2022, 1:43pm
peetee wrote: 29 Sep 2022, 9:40am Understood. Sometimes these threads start and it’s difficult to tell just how accurate the OP is being with specific terms. In this case, however, it seems you are being far more accurate than the manufacturers. Chapeau!
:wink:
I assume the manufacturers named them pulleys because the ones on early derailleurs had no teeth.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154840124187 ... 55f8d0b289
thats interesting - thanks - I didnt know they once had no teeth
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