I stupidly dropped my Force XPLR (D2) derailleur when removing it and one of the lower pulley wheel teeth broke off . When I checked for replacements, I almost got a heart attack at the prices - 78€ for a set of plastic pulley wheels with steel bearings?
Does anyone know, if there is any difference between the Force pulley wheels and the Rival pulley wheels, which are less than half the price? Weight seems to be identical and while the bearing seal color is different on the pictures, this could also be coincidence.
Or are there any recommendations on 3rd party pulley wheels, that are not ridiculously overpriced or aliexpress knockoffs that break after a few rides?
I’ve tried a few varieties, and found the Hope jockey wheels (https://r2-bike.com/HOPE-Set-Jockey-Wheels-12-Teeth) to be the best. Of the others I’ve tried: Both Rival and Force jockeys end up getting sand stuck between the dust cap and the edge of the wheel making them squeak lots. And the JRC ones I had span nicely at first but let a ton of dirt into the bearings so needed cleaning frequently.
@Lo_Fi thanks for your input - I might give those a try. My bike already has a lot of orange accents, so these being available in that colour might be worth spending a bit more.
I seem to have found the difference between rival and force as well (SRAM spare parts catalogue):
I wonder if “steel” on the force level is supposed to refer to stainless? Because otherwise I don’t get why the chrome steel variant is so much cheaper. From what I could gather online, chrome steel might even be preferred in this application. Anyway, this confirms my suspicion that it is absolutely not worth it to spend more than double on the force variant.
. When I checked for replacements, I almost got a heart attack at the prices - 78€ for a set of plastic pulley wheels with steel bearings?