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Consequences of using smaller replacement pulley/jockey wheels in the rear derailleur

Bicycles Asked on May 12, 2021

I have a new rear derailleur (Microshift Advent X) which uses somewhat oversized cog wheels with 13 and 14 teeth. I am known to wear these wheels during the winter season, so I am already planning for spare parts.

I have a small stash of smaller 11 teeth pulley/jockey wheels and I wonder if I could install them when the time comes, instead of looking for matching larger spares. The benefits are that the 11-teeth parts are quite more widespread, but what are the possible problems that this could create?

Here are some negative things that I can imagine, but maybe I am missing something or underestimating the consequences.

  1. Clearance problems between pulley/jockey wheels, derailleur cage and chain passing through them. I can imagine that squeezing larger cogs could cause that, but with smaller ones the clearance should increase.

  2. Increased chain friction because of sharper angles when links are wrapping smaller cogs. I could not care less about it. The bulk of my friction problems in that area come from clogged bushings/bearings inside the pulley wheels; something that better seals, not more teeth, should help with.

  3. Change of the optimal chain length. I can imagine that with fewer teeth I’d need to remove a few links from the chain? Or is it the other way around, and the chain must grow?

  4. Worse chain retention (chain jumping inside the derailleur). I wonder if this will be noticeable given how constrained the chain inside the cage is, and with clutched derailleur keeping it tensioned.

One Answer

When people put in wider than stock pulleys, one possible outcome is the chain winds up getting jammed between the tension pulley and the cage. That can result in a destroyed derailleur and/or frame. This may not be common per se, but I've seen it enough that I'm very conservative about never using anything but the original thickness.

Answered by Nathan Knutson on May 12, 2021

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