Rapid fire review: North Shore Billet idler pulley wheels

When the now-Whistler-based North Shore Billet announced its new range of 16 different replacement idler pulleys, it probably didn’t make huge waves. But, with there now being at least 16 bikes from increasingly mainstream bike brands, there will be a slowly rising tide of high pivot owners looking to – or needing to – replace their worn idler pulleys with something more durable, or flashier.

Of the 16 pulley wheels on offer, all are available machined from 7075 T6 aluminum. Any pulley wheels 16-teeth or less are available in steel as well.

We mounted one of NSB’s idler pulley wheels to a Gen. 6 Trek Slash. Since Trek uses a large, 19T pulley wheel, that means alloy was the only option. For the Slash, NSB also adds a “more pronounced plain tooth profile ot help reduce chain drop.”

As someone who often prefers durability over a tiny bit of extra weight, I’d have opted for steel. But the alloy wheel is holding up very well to months of abuse. Nearly eight months at this point. The chain didn’t drop once, though I handn’t had that problem with the Slash to start with.

NSB idler pulley securely in place on the Slash

The stock wheel wasn’t toast yet but…

…the tooth wear was …

…Far from even.

North Shore Billet? New shiny bling!

I’ll admit, we put this pulley wheel on because I was stoked to see another cool part from NSB. But, when we pulled the stock pulley wheel off, I noticed how much wear was hiding on the inside edge of the teeth. Trek’s chainline is not amazing between the pulley wheel and the chainring on the Slash. That’s clearly led to very lopsided wear on the pulley wheel itself.

I could have replaced this with a stock pulley wheel from Trek, and both are exactly 46 grams so there isn’t any weight gain or anything. But, when this pewter anodized replacement is an option, why go with stock? The shiny silver definitely adds some flare to the Slash.

NSB offers its idler pulley wheels as a wheel only or with a bearing kit (Enduro 6903 LLB ABEC-3 bearing and clip). Seeing how uneven the load on the Slash’s idler pulley wheel likely is, given the uneven wear, I’m glad mine arrived with a smooth new bearing, too. But, if you’re purely looking to add bling to a still-new high pivot bike, you can save a bit of cash by getting the wheel only.

NSB is asking $84.00 in Canadian dollars for the idler pulley wheel alone. For the full idler kit, it’s $99.00