After years of the bushes in the standard plastic ones wearing out and not having much luck with the bearings seizing in the cheaper bearing ones, I thought I'd test some posher jockey wheels for life span. I went for the mt zoom speed wheels (http://mtzoom.com/jockey-wheels/speed-wheels/) on the theory that the big holes should let mud fall away, thus extending life.
That was back in January. After a fairly high mileage year, and me thinking 'those are looking a bit thin' for a while, this is what happened on yesterdays ride-
In the meantime they've been flawless, in that i have paid them no notice whatsoever save for thebodd spin check and noting that yhey certainly do run cleaner and trap less mud than most. The bearings are still perfect (opened them up to check a little while back) and the wheels themselves kept working fine to the moment of failure. Surprisingly, I didnt notice that had happened until I cleaned the bike so they failed gracefully.
To give a comparison, on a similar year I would have expected plastic bushed wheels to be nearly round and for the bush to have worn the hole it sits in some 50% bigger.
To conclude the trial, would i buy them again? At that price, no, I wouldn't. I have however changed my mind on the worth of putting decent bearings in your jockey wheels- it certainly seems to keep them running smoothly for much longer.
So, any recommendations for jockey wheels that last a long time at the hub and the teeth? What I'd really like is the same as these, but made in steel!
