My Shimano 1×10 drivetrain has been getting noisy, and I narrowed it down to the lower jockey wheel. It seems like the plastic jockey wheel is squeaking where it contacts the chain rollers. The chain was recently replaced, and I use Silca Super Secret drip wax. How do I silence this, or is it an expected caveat of running a waxed chain?
Noisy jockey wheels with waxed chain
byu/neilt6 inbikewrench
by neilt6
2 Comments
has it been freshly waxed? If it’s new wax, it’s pretty normal for it to be a bit loud at first as the chain is getting broken in.
If it’s old wax (or if it’s new wax and it got worse instead of better after running for a little bit), something else is going on. I would take the chain off and check the jockey wheel bearings; on my SRAM derailleur they are packed with grease between the bearing and the cap, maybe some wax got in there and contaminated the grease. I don’t know if Shimano’s jockey wheels are attached the same way though.
Can you please clarify if any of these parts are “link guide” vs. the more common hyperglide+? Was the chain brand new when you waxed it? Have you tried disassembling both jockey wheels, cleaning, greasing and re-assembling? That’s a ~10 minute job usually.