trekmogul 

Great set of wheels to have no matter the bike they are on..

merlinextraligh

anti dentite

atwl77

I've been told, on two separate and unrelated accounts, that these oversized pulleys are more fragile than regular pulleys, and are more likely to break under pressure (e.g. if you try to shift while already putting down lots of power uphill).

igosolo

Wow, I went to their site and watched a video. Maybe if we all stop hitting our balls with a big sledge hammer we won't need these silly contraptions. If I had billions of dollars I would not buy this part.

Racing Dan

Compared to what? If its shimano 11sp, just get a pair of dura ace pulleys at 1/10 the price and achieve almost the same thing. The numbers from friction facts are out the if you care to see for your self.

Racing Dan

I have never seen anyone independent verify these claims and it would be so easy to do. Simply compare input to output, measured with pedal and rear hub power meters for a standard and a CS drive train. I highly doubt there is 10 watts friction to be saved at any reasonable power level, unless they compare to a rusty Turney drive train with no lube.

bruce19

It looks like the pulley is a 1st. class lever. The larger the pulley, the less force needed to turn it. BUT...the chain will have to travel a farther distance. Think cassette cogs. What this means in the real world, i don't know.

Reynolds 

I liked the Ceramicspeed pulleys, but they were too expensive for my budget. Instead I use this. Spent less money and still save about 1.8 watts:

noodle soup

​​​​​​can you post a link? I'm not doubting you, but I would love to read more about it.

rosefarts

I bought two 11t pulleys on Amazon. I think they were $6 each but it might have been $6 for the pair. They are quiet, don't hurt my shifting at all, and are gold.

I estimate that for a 5 hour gravel ride, I am now averaging up to a thousandth of a MPH faster.

And they're gold.

atwl77

I didn't hear it from the Internet.

First case was along a popular climb, one rider's derailleur practically disintegrated. Another rider in my group who runs one of the local LBS helped the guy remove the broken derailleur and shorten the chain to turn the bike into a makeshift single-speed so that the guy could ride home. While repairing he told us that these oversized pulleys are fragile and cautioned us against shifting while climbing under pressure (i.e. ease up on the power while you shift).

Second case was a riding buddy of mine, we were talking about oversized pulleys when he mentioned he tried it once. Broke his brand new derailleur the next day while powering up a short section that we often ride during the weekend. He's gone back to regular derailleur after that.

noodle soup

That makes sense, but it's surprising that there's nothing written about it anywhere. Usually when an insanely priced item is having failures, it's not hard to find complaints and photos of those failures.

atwl77

In retrospect, I should have taken a picture of that first case. It looked like the jockey wheel broke, jamming up the chain and, as the guy was powering up the climb, that force just ripped the rest of the derailleur part. He was lucky it didn't go into the spokes and cause even more damage.

Janus60

I was both interested and doubtful about the real benefit of this device. Finally I went for the purchase of a 500€ (e.g. 600$) OSPW Ceramicspeed.

I tried to realize objective quantitative measures in order to assess the real power saving (measurement device : 9100P duraace power meter / Garmin 1030plus). Same route, approximately same weather conditions…

Also changed the chain with a brand new chain (KMC X10 SL DLC Super Light). Cassette and chain ring also recent (less than 1200 km)

So far no relevant advantage ! same average power need for same maximal average speed.

Would I buy it again ? Not for this price (definitively not value for money) But considering the fantastic look, the the facinating and discreet sound which pushed you to press harder on the pedals, I would be interested with a more realistic price about 200€ (~240 $)

I will publish power measurement details soon...

smashndash

If I were buying expensive pulley wheels, I'd want them to have full ceramic bearings. Those are really durable and don't need as much lube or sealing. Afaik even ceramicspeed does not use full ceramic in their OSPW.

example: https://www.kogel.cc/products/the-no...tagram-pulleys

Just a thought.

Janus60

brief benchmarking data Ceramicspeed OSPW vs. DuraAce regular cage and pulley


ceramicspeed OSPW vs. regular DuraAce cage benchmarking - power time zones breakdown

Hiro11

My opinion:

From a performance perspective, the two absolutely worst ways to waste money on your bike are oversized pulleys and ceramic bearings. This product neatly combines both of these "features". They also work as a handy sign on your bike, blaring "I am a complete poseur".

Again, just one man's opinion.

Janus60

@Hiro11 : I don’t share your opinion about ceramic bearing. As i’ve did with the ospw, I run the same benchmarking with replacing the original traditional stainless bearing of my Mavic CXR ultimate wheels with ceramic hybrid bearing (coated ceramic + ceramic balls) and in this case the upgrade definitively worth it. i will next publish the results and datas
however, it’s just one isolated experiment, further experience should confirm or not my analysis

Anyway we should be careful with too radical thinking shortcuts without further experiment. I made often wrong decision with some preconceived opinions, that’s one of the reasons I’ve decided to go systematically for experiments and measurement.

one point I agree with is the about the intangible criteria and your funny anecdote about bicycle « poseur » ;-)

Janus60

atwl77 that’s my next investigation : how resilient are ceramicspeed ospw. Actually with a far bigger lever arm distance, the torque effort on the cage are significantly higher. The coming season will be very interesting to compare the reliability of this device compared to the fail-proof original dura ace cage. Wait and see...

Atlas Shrugged

The internet, bringing people together one judgmental post at a time.

cxwrench

I know this an old post but it's entirely incorrect. The amount of power the rider is producing has absolutely ZERO affect on the what happens below the cog the chain is on. ALL of the power goes into that cog...none is felt by the cage or pulleys. It's a very simple concept to understand, go look at your bike.

I'm sure you'll probably come up w/ some numbers proving that you're saving XX watts...but you're not. If there is any difference it's in the (lack of) proper lubricant and sketchy seals.

znomit

Wheels flex under load.
That gap that was between the derailleur and spokes when the bike is on the repair stand? Not so big when climbing.
Though it's hard to look at your bike while you're doing it.

Janus60

sorry if I could offend by my last message. That was definitively not my intention. My foreign English may be responsible for this lack of subtlety. In fact I only wanted to suggest that only objective tests and measurements can help to compare. And that even the test that I conducted is an isolated experiment far from sufficient to conclude but should engourage further and lot of additional real-condition experiences

Hiro11

1. Person posts thread asking for opinions on oversized pulleys.
2. I post my opinion, caveated not once but twice that it's an opinion, not fact. Something I also disclose permanently in my "Bikes" field to the left because of the hyper-sensitivity to even solicited opinions on this forum.

If you solicit opinions and get an opinion back, it a bit hard to complain that the person responding is being judgmental. Regardless, you neatly prove another opinion I have: whenever you utter a declarative sentence of any sort on the internet, you're going to offend someone.

burnthesheep

For newer Shimano "R" rear derailleurs you can run a 12/14 on the factory cage.

I file this one under "really really marginal". If really really marginal applies to you, sure. With TT it's really disingenuous to argue "train more" when most folks already optimize their training budgets. Therefore, marginal gains. Waxed chains, big front rings and larger rear cogs, TT tires, aero, etc....

If it's just for group rides and fondos, if you've got the money I guess. I won't judge. If money is tight though, I wouldn't do it unless it matters with how you compete.