Originally Posted by
cbrstar
There's a few things you can do.
1) You can bend the cage back straight but it's easier said then done. There's a few different methods one of them being you take it completely apart and you hammer it flat again against a straight surface. Or using a vice and a crescent wrench you can sometimes straighten it out. It will never be perfect again but you can get it close enough.
2) Most people don't bother with the first step. It's easy to simply buy a replacement cage. I'm cheap so I at least try to do the first
3) If the derailleur is too old and you can't find a replacement cage then replace the entire derailleur
1 - I'll try doing this later tonight.
2 - Do they still make replacement cages for older 9-speed RDs like this?
3 - The RD is an Ultegra, I know that 105 and Ultegra are interchangeable (the brifters on this bike are 105), could I do a Tiagra RD to save the kid a bit of money if I have to replace it?