Low resistance gear pulleys that last..

[svrasmussen]

To day I noticed that the guide pulley on my almost new Ultegra derailleur was difficult to turn and hence was causing some notable resistance when turning the pedals by hand with the rear wheel off the ground. Disassembling and lubricating it partly fixed the problem, but what a disappointment over Shimano . The bike has seen rain maybe once or twice!

Anyway do any of you have some pulley upgrade recommendations? I’m working on a budget so don’t suggest the 429 € Ceramic Speed Titanium pulleys.

[5 8 5]

I've found Tacx Stainless Jockey wheels are very durable, spin well and are reasonably priced.
I've had a set on my winter bike and they've performed well.

Just avoid the Tacx "Standard" pulleys which are they're poor in comparison.

[fdegrove]

Hi,

I've found Tacx Stainless Jockey wheels are very durable, spin well and are reasonably priced.

Couldn't agree more. Too bad they're in this silly purple colour and they're definitely not the lightest out there.
As a matter of fact I found these to spin more freely than the ceramic hybrid version for some odd reason....

I've been running the same set of pulleys for a few years already. Lubricated with just a few drops of Triflow oil BTW.

Ciao,

[mellowJohnny]

Token Tiramic - one season and so far no issues. 17g vs. 23g for the stock Ultegra they replaced, and not too pricey. Comes in a range a slick colours too...

[gleason]

Tiso make really nice ceramic pullys that never seem to need lubed yet always spin perfectly. Lennard Zinn loves them and did a friction test on them here: http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/05/ ... eys_284386

[djconnel]

I recommend buying that report: it's cheap ($5) and it's nice to see hard numbers (user agreement is to not reveal any results, so I won't). Actually, if the goal is low resistance, and it should be, I'm tempted by a 15-tooth upgrade. Dark Albert's web page is still up, but I'm not sure if he's in business still.

My analysis here (with link to his page) showed the 15-tooth should save around 0.2% of total power. Small, but this forum is all about small improvements.

Overall, though, I think it's obvious from even a casual spin test that SRAM pulleys are way better than Dura-Ace... even Rival is better than Dura-Ace. Going beyond SRAM is marginal gains, according to that same blog post link (see Mark Kelly numbers).

[system787]

+1 for sram pulleys.

I think they retain much of the shift quality of nicer pulleys, and perform plenty well through mud, dirt, rain, etc.


I'm going to plug in HSC delrin hybrid ceramic pulleys though, $35 for a pair at fairwheebikes. I'm using these on my chorus 11 rear derailleur, and it performs a lot better than stock. They spin very well, and the thinner profile of the the pulleys seem to shift a little better than stock chorus pulleys. Only gripe i have with them is that they're noticably louder than stock pulleys.

[mattyb95]

What are these aftermarket ones like noise wise? Put some BBB ones in and they spin pretty well but make quite a noise in comparison to the old Ultegra ones, more of a rattle.

[prendrefeu]

Dark Albert's web page is still up, but I'm not sure if he's in business still.

I don't think he is. I've tried contacting him for over a month now, no replies.

[thisisatest]

Overall, though, I think it's obvious from even a casual spin test that SRAM pulleys are way better than Dura-Ace... even Rival is better than Dura-Ace. Going beyond SRAM is marginal gains, according to that same blog post link (see Mark Kelly numbers).

I wouldn't necessarily say BETTER, unless free spinning that is your sole goal with the pulleys. DA upper pulleys float side to side as part of its bearing assembly, without allowing twist. They're very nice, quiet, keep shifting spot-on. Ultegra uses a ceramic bushing material and large rubber wiper seals. you want lower drag for cheap? keep the pulley and remove the seals. the lower bearing is not a significant source for drag.
Sram pulleys may spin better when fresh, but at least around here, they foul much easier than shimanos.

[sugarkane]

I'm using extralite pulleys, not ceramic but these are the second set I've run In the last few years.. Quite, shift well and are easy to keep clean. Half the weight of campag jockeys to boot!