Chirping

[Gummo]

Within the last few weeks, replaced my chain/crankset, cassette and chain. On the last two rides, I've noticed a chirping noise at the back wheel area when pedalling only and more pronounced when changing gear. After checking to see if there were any birds trapped there, Google pointed the finger at the rear derailleur.

Any thoughts on whether replacing the pulleys would do the trick?

 

[ColinJ]

Any thoughts on whether replacing the pulleys would do the trick?

Why not just clean and lube the ones you have and put them back in? If that is where the chirping noise was coming from you would probably have sorted it out in less than 15 minutes.

(You could probably get away with a quick clean and squirting some oil in without even taking them off the derailleur.)

 

[Levo-Lon]

As above, dismantle the jockey wheels and clean them out.
Bearings may be a bit siezed

 

[I like Skol]

Bearings may be a bit siezed

He means dry. You would know if they were seized!
The 'bearing' is often not what you might expect a bearing to be but is commonly just a steel bushing. Clean the inside of the jockey wheel and the bushing then reassemble with some thin grease. The jockey wheel appears to be in otherwise good condition and the teeth have plenty of wear remaining.
Might also be worth checking you have routed the chain through the derailleur correctly. There is a metal tab between the top and bottom jockey wheels and it is surprisingly easy to go the wrong side of this and leave the chain rubbing against the tab. It is also not very evident when you have done this as the chain still runs quite smoothly and you wouldn't be the first person to complete quite long distance rides in this condition before realising something is wrong.

 

[Gummo]

I've disassembled the pulleys and noted the direction of each (using the text). The lower pulley is fine but I've found that the upper one (only after scraping and washing the dirt off) has an extra wee symbol on one side and two wee round indents on the other.

These differences don't appear to matter but I've a niggling thought that they might.

I've attached images of each side.

Any ideas?

 

[rogerzilla]

Is your bike a Birdy or a Raleigh Budgie?

 

[roley poley]

B is a recycle symbol for the material it's made from ...A could be a leftover from injection moulding but not sure

 

[Gummo]

Is your bike a Birdy or a Raleigh Budgie?

Naw, it's a Raleigh Chirper.

 

[the_mikey]

I've disassembled the pulleys and noted the direction of each (using the text). The lower pulley is fine but I've found that the upper one (only after scraping and washing the dirt off) has an extra wee symbol on one side and two wee round indents on the other.

These differences don't appear to matter but I've a niggling thought that they might.

I've attached images of each side.

Any ideas?

View attachment 531647

Both pulleys appear to be the same type of pulley, unsure if that is an issue in reality, but at some point in the past the derailleur had it's pulleys swapped with two almost identical pulleys, the Centeron G Pulley is usually the one nearest the cassette, and the bottom pulley is usually a 'narrow' pulley. Maybe a new set of aftermarket jockey wheels will solve this?

 

[faster]

Both pulleys appear to be the same type of pulley, unsure if that is an issue in reality, but at some point in the past the derailleur had it's pulleys swapped with two almost identical pulleys, the Centeron G Pulley is usually the one nearest the cassette, and the bottom pulley is usually a 'narrow' pulley. Maybe a new set of aftermarket jockey wheels will solve this?

It's two pictures of the same pulley. Just different sides.

 

[the_mikey]

It's two pictures of the same pulley. Just different sides.

Ah, thanks for the clarification!

 

[fossyant]

Blob of grease and stick it back on. Also lube the chain as 99% of the time it will be a dry chain link.

 

[Gummo]

I've taken the chance that the pulley is bi-directional and it has performed perfectly in a test ride. Thanks everyone for your time and knowledge.