Originally Posted by
antimonysarah
... What would people recommend if I don't want to have to remove my rear derailleur (and would prefer not to take the fork apart though I'm fine taking the handlebars off the stem)? Basically I am terrible at lining up derailleurs and really, really want to have all my gears on a grand randonnee. 51cm-ish bike with 700c wheels, so on the small side but not super-tiny.
...
Do what you want, but last spring I went on a week long van supported trip, they hauled all our luggage in the van trailer every day. Most people had road bikes since all we had to carry was our water and lunch each day. I worked in a bike shop years ago, so I became the one that everybody went to when their bikes were not working the way they wanted them too. And of the dozen or so bikes in the group, I think three of them had bent derailleur hangers. And two of those bikes I could never get the derailleur to shift right because I refused to try to align a hanger that I might break.
I traveled with a couple friends, they (and I) removed derailleurs from the hanger and did not have to make any derailleur adjustments after re-assembly.
In my case, I also removed the chain because I was packing my folding bike into an S&S case. Maybe it is because I am comfortable doing work on a bike, something that many others are not comfortable doing. But I would much rather disassemble and re-assemble a few extra things that take a few extra minutes if it will reduce the chance of damage like a bent or broken hanger.
And next time you go to the doctor or dentist office, ask them if you can get a half dozen pairs of disposable gloves for working on your bike if it breaks down on the road, they are usually happy to say yes.