Taking apart, cleaning, and lubing jockey pulleys

[tzvia]

I took off both the rear wheel and chain. I'm such a klutz that the more space and easier access I have, the better.

Now if I could just get the hang of derailleur adjustment, I'd be making some real progress

Derailleur adjustment is really easy. It's four things.
1. B tension screw.
2. Outer stop screw.
3. Inner stop screw.
4. Cable tension.

First thing to deal with is 2 and 3. One screw at the back of the rear derailleur limits the outermost movement and the other is the furthest in it will go. Set those two to keep the upper jockey wheel lined up with the lowest and highest gear. The derailleur should not go past either end to eliminate the possibility that the derailleur will shift into the spokes or cause the chain to drop between the smallest gear and the chainstay. Once those are set you deal with 4, cable tension. This is the setting that places that jockey wheel directly under each gear as you shift. When you shift, it should move one gear and line up with the gear so you don't get any jumping or grinding. Then you look at 1, the B tension screw. This is the tension on the spring that pulls the derailleur back and the upper jockey wheel away from the rear cogs. It should be set so that the jockey sprockets don't rest against any section of chain that is also touching the gear at the same time. Put the rear derailleur in the largest cog front and back. Look at where the upper jockey is- it should not be resting on chain that is resting on the gear, but on chain that is just hanging off the gear. Shift through the gears to make sure the jockey wheel does not move up into the cassette. It may take a little fiddling to get the best feeling shifts. Done.

[Kalidurga]

Wow. I cannot believe the difference it made to do this bit of maintenance. Pedaling and shifting are both sooo very smooth now. It seems this was actually the problem that made me think I couldn't figure out how to adjust the gears.

And my bike was so. incredibly. quiet today. It was amazing. Definitely gotta do this more often.