Shimano Dura-Ace 9070 Rear Derailleur Pulleys

My Shimano Acera RD-M3020-SGS long cage derailleur is the best derailleur I could find that checked all the boxes for what I needed. I use a 9-speed 11-42 tooth cassette and SRAM PC-971 9-speed chain. I can live with the plastic parts and the steel (but very thin and strong steel) pulley cage but the plain bearings in the pulleys really bug me. It's actually a very good derailleur, Shimano just went cheap on the pulleys because that's the "market niche" this particular derailleur fits into. I'm betting it would cost less than $2 to put good, sealed bearing pulleys on every derailleur Shimano sells. But then it would be harder to sell a $500 battery powered derailleur.Anyway, here's all the hard-to-find specs for these Dura-Ace pulley wheels so you can tell if you can upgrade your derailleur with the 9070 sealed bearing pulleys. The 9070 Dura-Ace pulleys are a little narrower than the 8mm wide pulleys that were in my derailleur, about 7.6mm if I remember correctly. Since my cage side plates don't connect to each other the slight difference in width doesn't matter.The bolts that hold the pulleys on my derailleur are 5.04mm. The holes in the original pulley side dust covers are 5.09mm. The holes in the side dust covers of the Dura-Ace 9070 are 5.44mm. So, about 1/3 of a mm difference. I don't think that is enough to matter, they're very secure in the cage, the chain has plenty of clearance, and the pulleys turn freely on their sealed ball bearings. It shifts very crisp and precise; the chain is silent when riding.So, are the Dura-Ace 9070 pulleys with sealed bearings better than stock pulleys with plain bearings? Absolutely! If nothing else, the warm fuzzy feeling I have knowing every rotating part of my expensive recumbent road bike is turning on quality ball bearings is worth $39. Even though that is quite a bit more than I paid for the derailleur in the first place!

So quiet, so smooth. Installed last week and the drive train on my Dura Ace 9000 system (with a new chain) and these pulleys felt soooo smooth. Wish I would have done sooner!Simply install. Just note to initially take off the old pulley it may require some force. Be patience and trust “left loosey” :)

Great upgrade to my shimano 105 11 speed derailer.Made the chain drive and cassette much quieter and smoother.The 105 pulleys have an upper sleeve bearing and lower pulley has nothing. The DA pulleys both have ball bearings that came be cleaned and lubricated. Made all the difference.

Replaced the worn pulleys on my Integra derailleur with these. Nice upgrade. Shifts smooth as butta.

Somehow my LBS and I missed replacing these pulleys, they lasted for about 6 years and 40000 kms and were completely worn out but still worked.New pulleys were easy to install and shifting is so much better now.

Works well.

I used these to replace the original, bearing-less pulleys on my Tiagra 10-speed derailleur. The original ones were such a joke; they had no bearings and simply rode on the screw that held them in.While these won't spin for days like some of the widely-available aluminum pulleys with ceramic bearings, they are smooth and silent running and will only getting smoother once they break in.The pulleys are differently shaped and fit for purpose so be sure to read the side of the pulley wheels to see where they should be installed. Pro-Tip: the pulley marked "Tension" is the lower pulley and is directional.

Great replacements for my ultegra rear derailleur on my gravel bike. Have held up well over the past 6 months of abuse.