Ceramic Bearing Jockey Wheels worth it?

[goirish]

Hey all, its time to change my 10 year old Jockey wheels on my Shimano XTR Mega 9 mountain bike rear derailleur. Has anyone here tried out ceramic bearing or hybrid ceramic pulleys, like these from Enduro? I want to know if they are worth the extra $$. I mean, XTR sealed cartridge replacements are not cheap anyway, so I figure why not dive in all the way. But a $100 for 2 wheels....

[attachment=854]

ENDURO®
CERAMIC HYBRID
SHIMANO®
DERAILLEUR PULLEYS
FOR ROAD AND MTB

"ZERØ" GRADE 3 $99.00:
-SUPER LIGHT DELRIN® WHEELS
-GRADE 3 SILICON NITRIDE BALLS
-CHROMIUM STEEL RACES
-3X CRYOGENIC TREATMENT
-MAGNETITE FINISH
-ALUMINUM DUST COVERS
-INCLUDES UPPER AND LOWER PULLEY

[Bill]

To be honest, I would not unless you are a racer. Only thing ceramic is for is the weight issue. Personally I think they would break down alot faster then alloy. I hear ceramic I think of dishes lol. That would save you extra money for on down the road repairs, i.e better tires, wheels, or something else you will need. Ultimately it is up to you but seems like a load of money for something that won't really increase much.


Bill

[goirish]

Bill, thanks. I agree that they are pricey for such a small piece of the puzzle. I have read that ceramic bearings and hybrids of them are over twice as strong/hard/durable than stainless steel ball bearings. The weight loss part isn't a big deal to me, as its just a few grams compared to the XTR wheels, my concern was reliability, performance & having no issues with them. It would be great to just buy one last set of these. I got almost 9 years from the originals.

---

I was also thinking about ceramic dishes, lol. But do any of you remember in the early 90's, that ceramic baseball bats were all the rage, until they were banned everywhere because the ball came off them too hot and they were deemed dangerous due to their ability to be super lightweight, yet hard and durable over aluminum bats? so there may be something to it, I dunno.

[DaveM]

Ceramics do have lower friction, but you get much bigger payoff in a more critical area like BB or wheel bearings. If you have a 10 year old derailleur, I'd say just buy a whole new one. You probably have some play in the pivots after all those years. You'll get new pulleys and crisper shifting for not a whole lot more than just the pulleys.

[Joe_W]

Plus the Shimano jockey wheels are probably almost as expensive as the new dérailleur... And as DaveM said: you'll benefit from a new one.