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Bent derailler hanger

Old 07-30-19, 01:31 PM
  #1  
spelger
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Bent derailler hanger

I recently bought an off wheel trainer and was having some difficulties shifting. bike shifted fine with wheel on but no so with one or two gears when mounted on the trainer. The nice thing about the trainer is that i could watch the derailer (defailure?) jump around. i noticed that the derailer is twisted a bit. I am assuming this twist is in the hanger. does anyone know of a good repair method? taking if off and bending it in a vise seems a bit harsh.

also, i am assuming that it is the hanger that is twisted. everything else looks ok.

-scott
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Old 07-30-19, 01:47 PM
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https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...s.php?id=74268
Rear wheel on the bike while using tool
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Old 07-30-19, 02:00 PM
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My bike shop only charged me $25 to fix my bent hanger. Cheaper than buying a tool to do it yourself. Probably something you will only have to deal with rarely if ever again.
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Old 07-30-19, 02:07 PM
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Shifting fine except when mounted on the trainer doesn't make me automatically think the hangar is bent. Just saying. Also you should use a straightedge a couple of feet long to say its bent for sure. Unless it's really bent, of course. But that would show up in the shifting, on the trainer or off.
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Old 07-30-19, 02:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Leisesturm
Shifting fine except when mounted on the trainer doesn't make me automatically think the hangar is bent. Just saying. Also you should use a straightedge a couple of feet long to say its bent for sure. Unless it's really bent, of course. But that would show up in the shifting, on the trainer or off.
i would normally agree, the thing is that while on the road I can only glance at the derailleur but on the trainer I can stare at it for an extended time. It is clearly not lined up with the cassette.

Today on my way home I’ll be on an old farm road and will chance a few tens of seconds looking at it.
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Old 07-30-19, 02:24 PM
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Originally Posted by trailangel
https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...s.php?id=74268
Rear wheel on the bike while using tool
thought these were only for measuring. I see this can correct as well.

Thanks!
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Old 07-30-19, 06:05 PM
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It doesn't make much sense to buy a $70 tool when you can get most derailleur hangars for around $20 here in the US and buy them from overseas vendors for under $6 if you are lucky enough to be able to track down the hangar number for your existing hangar. I bent one a couple of years ago and paid $20 including 3 day shipping from an online bike shop. I did know that it was a number 45 hangar. If I thought I might bend it a second time I would go to an overseas vendor on eBay and buy a spare. It was the only time I ever replaced one.

60 different hangars for $5.50 including shipping https://www.ebay.com/itm/1PCS-MTB-Mo...PxxAj9y_xZlf-w
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Old 07-30-19, 07:14 PM
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My LBS will straighten a bent hanger just one time, no more should it get bent again. However, my personal preference is to replace bent hangers. It's a matter of peace of mind and it isn't expensive. Obviously, it's an individual choice.
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Old 07-30-19, 07:30 PM
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Replace, don't straighten. Derailleur hangers are made of aluminum, and they don't take kindly to much bending. A little tweaking with the right tool in skilled hands is okay, but why take the chance if you're working on your own bike?

It's always a good idea to keep—and travel with—a spare derailleur hanger. They're easily bent or broken, and it's something you're not likely to find in a local shop. If you're on a trip with your bike and the hanger breaks (been there, done that), your bike is out of commission.

If you can't get a hanger made by the manufacturer, the ones made by Wheels Manufacturing are the next best thing.
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Old 07-30-19, 08:38 PM
  #10  
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I don't understand how the hanger can be bent if it works fine on the bike and not on the trainer.

If the hanger is bent enough to cause poor shifting on the trainer then wouldn't it also cause poor shifting with the wheel on the bike?

It seem to me that the problem is isolated to the trainer.


-Tim-
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Old 07-30-19, 09:35 PM
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Buy a new one!!! Such a silly idea to bend back a cheap aluminum part. It did its job. Toss it and move on!
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Old 07-31-19, 06:18 AM
  #12  
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https://derailleurhanger.com

Unless the hanger is integrated into the frame (steel).
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Old 07-31-19, 06:39 AM
  #13  
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Hold on people, Example: We don't know if is bike is a 9 speed and his trainer has a 11 speed cassette, because that will certainly explain how it shifts fine with the wheel on and not on the trainer.
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Old 07-31-19, 08:04 AM
  #14  
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Originally Posted by Just Mark
My bike shop only charged me $25 to fix my bent hanger. Cheaper than buying a tool to do it yourself. Probably something you will only have to deal with rarely if ever again.
I bought one after dealing with my first bent hanger. We could not get it to shift right for anything. As soon as I saw the shop pull out their tool, I knew exactly what the problem was. Since we have 4 regular bikes and 2 tandems, it was a good investment. YMMV.
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Old 07-31-19, 01:32 PM
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Thanks for all the info. i did not even think of just replacing it...

it is not welded/integrated into the frame, although i have not taken it off but looks like a separate part.

the derailur is surely twisted, on my ride home last night it was pretty clearly twisted. like the hand of a clock at the 12 and 1 position (maybe a little less so)

the trainer is a Kicker that came with an 11 speed cassette. the bike has an 8 speed and the kicker;'s cassette was replaced with an 8. the shim to compensate is installed (1.3 mm i think) first, then the cassette. not 100% sure if this is correct but it seems the most logical to me.

TH: i don't understand either unless the cassette cogs are not in the exactly same place relative to the deraulier but close enough. maybe i need to adjust the shifting between teh two and look for that happy medium. since i can see that the derailer is twisted i want to start with that first.

-scott
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Old 07-31-19, 01:39 PM
  #16  
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My wife as a Trek Verve 2 with an 8-speed cassette. I have a Trek Domane SL5 with an 11-speed cassette. I bought a Wahoo Kickr Core as it's much less expensive than the Kickr. It doesn't come with a cassette, which was fine by me. I initially installed the 8-speed cassette incorrectly as the shim had to go on a certain way and I had it backwards and it caused the cassette to wobble. Reinstalling the shim properly fixed the problem.
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Old 07-31-19, 01:53 PM
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Originally Posted by spelger
Thanks for all the info. i did not even think of just replacing it...

it is not welded/integrated into the frame, although i have not taken it off but looks like a separate part.

the derailur is surely twisted, on my ride home last night it was pretty clearly twisted. like the hand of a clock at the 12 and 1 position (maybe a little less so)

the trainer is a Kicker that came with an 11 speed cassette. the bike has an 8 speed and the kicker;'s cassette was replaced with an 8. the shim to compensate is installed (1.3 mm i think) first, then the cassette. not 100% sure if this is correct but it seems the most logical to me.

TH: i don't understand either unless the cassette cogs are not in the exactly same place relative to the deraulier but close enough. maybe i need to adjust the shifting between teh two and look for that happy medium. since i can see that the derailer is twisted i want to start with that first.

-scott
Perhaps you need to adjust the low and high screws.
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Old 07-31-19, 03:03 PM
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Originally Posted by CycleryNorth81
Perhaps you need to adjust the low and high screws.
but those only adjust the lateral movement of the derailler, right? i don't see how that will compensate for a twisting position. i'll be sure ot have a look at its position when engaging different gears.
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Old 07-31-19, 09:39 PM
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could you post a couple of photos of the problem, or tell us the something about the bike, like brand, model, year
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Old 08-01-19, 02:59 PM
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I replace mine when I break them. I've bought them from Venom Bikes in the Ukraine, even; it was $2 for the hanger, $10 for shipping (the low price may have been because it was denominated in Hryvinia, or whatever Ukraine's currency is). Make sure to match the pictures carefully. They use a different numbering system.
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Old 08-01-19, 03:17 PM
  #21  
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I've got a $5 starbucks card that says this has to do with how the bike attaches to the trainer.


-Tim-
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Old 08-01-19, 07:16 PM
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Can't believe i missed this post...i'll double check that the shim is installed properly. thanks.
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Old 08-01-19, 07:23 PM
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As requested. i put the bike back onto the trainer since it is easier to shoot instead of on the bike. but both on bike and on trainer the derailluer looks off to me. now, not only does it look twisted from above, it looks bent outward when looking from behind, a view i never get while in the seat.

oh, the bike...Trek 1.2, have had it for about 7-10 years, i really don't know the year.



looking down chain.


looking above chain.
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Old 08-05-19, 07:11 AM
  #24  
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A couple of years ago I got the nagging feeling that my DR hanger was bent, and I worried that it was impacting shifting. Taking it off and laying it on something flat, I could see a warp. Just barely, but I couldn't tell if it was enough to cause any issue.

Replacing it was cheap and fairly easy, and while I was at it replaced the cable housings and re-worked the DR setup from scratch. I have no idea if the new hanger really helped but I felt better about the whole thing. The old one lives in my toolbox as a spare, so it's win-win regardless.
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Old 08-05-19, 08:40 AM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by trailangel
https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...s.php?id=74268
Rear wheel on the bike while using tool
Buy this or take to bike shop
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