A friend of mine hooked me up with a pretty sweet road bike for my wife, an early 80's Raleigh Technium with 6sp Suntour Accushift.

But those RD pulleys are SO LOUD! Their clacking is louder than the freewheel (which is rather noisy, as freewheels go).

I've been oiling the chain to death, thinking it was maybe inflexibility as it wound through the pulleys, but now I know for sure that's not it. Today I took the RD off, spun the pedals with the chain hanging on the cogs, and it was as quiet as the grave.

As far as I can tell, the noise is the chain rollers clicking as they land on the pulley (between the teeth). I took the pulleys out, took them apart, wiped them, and put them back together with fresh grease. A little quieter now, but not much. Note these pulleys have no bearings, just a bushing riding on the bolt. One side of the pulley has a metal plate (would that be called a bushing too? or maybe a washer? It's not completely flat, it's like a dish, and the lip goes into a groove on the side of the pulley), and the other side (which has the same groove) fits into a lip sticking out of the cage plate.

So, assuming these pulleys are just inherently noisy, are pulleys of this vintage mostly a standard size? Can I get some pulleys with a different material/shape that will be quieter?

As it is, I'm embarrassed to ride with my wife, because the noise reflects badly on my mech skills!

assuming that the pulleys are made of plastic, and that i was only given one guess l would guess that the chain was hitting the DR cage. i would probably find a DR that didn't make any noise, install it (it doesn't have to even be shifted for this test so just about any DR would work) and see where that leads me.

if it still made noise with the proven DR, i might suspect a possible chain width mismatch... just guessing really.

I'll go out on a limb here and guess that the chain is threaded through the cage wrong and is wrapped behind the tab that's between the pulleys. That's noisy as hell, and would account for the problem since the pulleys seem to be OK.

Hmm, that sounds like two versions of the same guess, hitting the cage somehow. I'll have to take a peek at that tomorrow. Wouldn't that make pedaling noticeably difficult though?

As for width, I don't see how the chain can be too wide; being a 6sp system, they don't make chains any wider, do they? And judging from the very clean condition of the bike, I doubt it saw enough use to wear out a chain, so it's probably the original, installed by Raleigh USA.

I don't know for sure, but think that Huey.. means rubbing the side of the cage. My reference is to the chain keeper tab mid-cage between the pulleys.

On some derailleurs the tab isn't that far off the line between the pulleys, and since there's never serious tension in the lower loop, the chain runs over the tab fairly easily. it does add quite a bit of friction, but it's like nothing when compared to normal pedaling forces and you wouldn't notice it with your legs.

Took a closer look, there is no mid-cage tab. There is a tab rearward of the lower pulley, and a tab forward of the top pulley, but the chain is running clear of both of those, and the sides.

Note this is an Accushift alpha-3040, the outer cage plate is metal, the inner plate (which the tabs are part of) is black plastic.

I found some pics online here: https://www.ontherodeagain.com/2011_05_01_archive.html (this guy must be a BF member!), in one you can clearly see the tab for the rear pulley.

Only my after-market metal pulleys make noises when the chain impacts the pulley as it passes through .

Researching eBay a little bit, apparently old-school 5-7sp pulleys were generally 10tooth, unlike modern 11tooth; having taken mine apart, they look _exactly_ like these (except they say "Suntour" instead of "Shimano", and they had only one metal side-plate per pulley, the circular groove on the other side rode a circular rail in the black plastic inner cage). Might these be quieter?

fietsbob, when you say after-market metal pulleys, are you talking about like this? That pink would look pretty good to go with the bike's black/hot pink color scheme, but they're pretty pricey ($13.50 for ONE pulley?), and if they're going to still be noisy there's no point! (However they say "Special teeth shape designed to minimize the noise of the chains during pedaling")

Tacx, from NL uses nylon, and a sealed bearing , made in 10t [Campag] and 11t [Shimano]

they also are used for Rohloff's chain tensioners.. I got spare 10t from QBP, they distribute both
10/11..

I got some over the years, examples: Bullseye (were, red ano Al) some are silver/clear ano.
and one pair , Carmichael, used Ti. (and Al)

being old, hearing loss makes lots of stuff quieter ..

Here's a crazy idea, if I am indeed right that the noise is rollers hitting between the pulley-teeth, what if I sprayed the pulley teeth with plasti-dip to make them a little rubberier? Would that potentially ruin the performance of the whole derailleur? Would the plasti-dip wear off within a few miles of riding (although this is non-tensioned chain going through here)?

Another thought; I have another bike with a Campy Gran Sport RD with metal, non-toothed pulleys (pics this way). I wonder what would happen if I tried swapping those pulleys in? Why do RD pulleys need teeth anyways? What if I chucked the pulleys on a drill, and spun them against sandpaper until they were sharp circular discs? (like I try to do on pinewood derby wheels?)

Yes you are right.. it is indeed a Daft Idea.
it will wear away ASAP.

maybe you need counseling for your Obsessions.

Isn't that what BF is for? Here I am on the couch, listen to my problems and sound sympathetic, dammit! (Although maybe I don't get sympathy if I'm not paying therapist prices...)

I'll Drink to un resolved listening .. Prost!


as I said , above Tacx is Nylon, a little softer plastic.

Metal pulleys are much noisier. Toothless pulleys aren't a great idea, if worn-out ones are any guide.

More teeth should be quieter.