Originally Posted by
Kapusta
His bike is 15 years old with a 7 speed Alivio RD. It has a hangar.
Any 9sp or lower Shadow RD will be backwards compatible with hangars.
Over the phone I told the Bike Shop I had a small aluminum tab coming down from the frame that the Derailleur mounted to. He called that a Direct Mount. He said the other is an Axle Mount where the Derailleur mounts directly to the axle. Is this correct. Ya'll keep talking about hanger and direct mount. I assume the hanger is the small aluminum tab and Direct Mount is to the axle. Seems different from what he said. He might have been just a clerk though not the mechanic. Which one is the correct terminology?