Replacing rubber seals in rear derailleur

[elolson3]

Just found out the hard way that carb cleaner, while doing a great job of removing grease and dirt, also causes those little rubber/neoprene dust seals in the guide and tensioner sprockets to pop out (rubber gets distorted by some chemical reaction with the solvent).

So are these seals sold as individual components? I tried a few searches and came up blank. (Shimano ultegra)

Any reccommendations on running without them? Seems that if the bearings are kept clean and lubricated they should be fine, just might need a little more maintenance without the seals.

Thanks in advance.

ELO

 

[artemidorus]

105 doesn't have the seals. I had a dry, rusty bearing in one of the jockey wheels after 1500km.
Still, it's not exactly a highly loaded bearing. It would probably go for years without lubrication. The squeaking, however, would drive one crazy.

 

[elolson3]

105 doesn't have the seals. I had a dry, rusty bearing in one of the jockey wheels after 1500km.
Still, it's not exactly a highly loaded bearing. It would probably go for years without lubrication. The squeaking, however, would drive one crazy.

Thanks for the insight on the 105. I lubed it up with teflon gun oil and it seemed to be in pretty good shape. My wife and I both have the same rear derailleur, I was cleaning hers when I ran out of brake parts cleaner (works good and never had the chemical reaction problem) and switched to the carb cleaner. I guess over time I'll have the control group and the experiment group and we'll just see what those little seals are contributing to component longevity.

R/Y,

ELO