bikefriday

I'm looking to replace my rear derailleur pulleys (which have worn teeth) with ball or ceramic bearing ones. The original pulleys are 10 tooth, however when looking online most of what I can find is 11 tooth or higher. Does anyone know if the 11 tooth pulleys will fit the rear derailleur / has anyone done this upgrade before? Thank you in advance for the help. I did do a search, but nothing specific came up.

Andrew R Stewart 

Increasing the pulley tooth count has a couple of possible issues. One is the obvious aspect of the chain being able to run between the two pulleys without hanging up. A long cage generally makes this moot but a short cage road der could see a problem. Next up is the reduced guide pulley (the upper one) to cog underside clearance (pulley knock) issue. If you are running the cog/ring tooth counts at or near the max specs (and this is pretty much the norm on most OEM bikes) then the gap under the big rear cog might not be enough for a larger pulley to fit within. How much "B" screw range is still unused? A possible extra link or a removal of a link to retain no pulley knock can be on the plate...

Not mentioned well is the pulley width. If a narrower pulley spec if installed then expect more cage/chain rub or noise during and after a shift. Andy

KCT1986

Pulleys are too close together w/10T pulleys to allow any increase in pulley size. Two 11T pulleys will put the teeth really close together at its closest point. Although it may fit and allow the chain to pass, not sure what effect it will have on noise or long term wear. Having the pulley so close together may also effect the "floating" feature of the Centeron guide pulley.

Andrew R Stewart 

Very good point although likely just increasing noise, assuming an otherwise well working system. Andy

70sSanO

I’m not positive, but I think the RD-6400 (7 speed) used a standard 10t, and the RD-6401 (8 speed) used a “narrow” 10t. The pulleys will have narrow stamped on them.

If yours is standard width, I “think” a 10t Tourney pulley might work. I have seen them on eBay.

John

davidad

I have tried after market ball bearing pulleys and haven't had good luck with them. If you can find originals go for them.

Eric S.

I replaced the pulleys on a 7-speed era Ultegra derailleur with some generic aluminum ones from eBay. I guess they were 11T (can't confirm because I'm at work now) and work just fine. I'm running a 28T large cog on that bike.

canklecat

I was going to recommend Tacx 10T sealed bearing pulleys, but they're currently listed as unavailable on Amazon. Too bad. I've been using 'em on two or three rear derailleurs for a couple of years -- a Suntour GPX, Shimano 600 Tricolor, and another that slips my mind at the moment (and I have an 11T in a box for another project). Thousands of miles, no problems. Great value at about $15 when I bought 'em. Much smoother than the original sintered bearings on those older RDs. Not a big difference compared with Shimano Centeron pulleys though. I also have one or two older Bullseye sealed bearing pulleys in anodized red, but I'm not using them at the moment -- they were a bit noisy compared with the Delrin or whatever plastic Tacx uses -- same material as most pulleys, that grayish-black hard plastic stuff.

grizzly59

Sometimes it's easier to beg borrow buy find a old and suitable derailer and cannibalize the pulleys. Check with a bike co-op, see if you can bring in your old stuff and scrounge.

Crankycrank

Unfortunately Tacx was bought out and no longer makes pulleys. You may be able to find some NOS but sellers like to jack the price up on them.

70sSanO

It is funny how the prices of old stuff changes over the years.

Decades ago Bullseye aluminum pulleys were a great upgrade, albeit heavy, especially if you got a matching color. A bit expensive, but cool.

Then NOS sets were going for $10 or so.

Now they are upwards of $100. Same yellow card in plastic. lol!

John

KCT1986

Please let us know if they are 11T. Been wondering how close the pulleys can be before issues appear. My estimates would put the teeth about 6mm apart at its nearest point with two 11T. The next gen Ultegra (RD-6500) uses 11T pulleys and seems to be about 8mm at its nearest point.

You mentioned generic aluminum ones so probably no "float" like the Centeron original. Any additional noise? Or are you skilled enough to get it perfectly dailed-in ?

canklecat

Sorry to hear that, those Delrin Tacx pulleys were an outstanding value. Glad I bought a few when they were available for only around $15.

Crankycrank

Velo Orange sells an 11t set that looks like a good replacement for the Tacx and only around $13 shipped. https://velo-orange.com/collections/...-jockey-wheels I just bought a pair but won't need to install them for awhile so can't say anything about performance but not too worried. To the OP VO also sells a 10t aluminum set that may work for $20 plus shipping if interested. https://velo-orange.com/products/gra...heels-10-tooth

canklecat

Good, those appear to be the same as the Tacx labeled pulleys. Good to see someone else picked up the distribution.

bikefriday

Have not been on here for a while. Just wanted to thank everyone for their input on this. The 10 tooth pulleys from VO look like they'll work with my setup. Thanks again everyone!