Keefusb

Hanging up my road bikes for the winter pretty soon, I was wondering what position is best for long term storage for the rear derailleur? I would think it would be the 11T which puts the least amount of cable tension against the return spring. Is my thinking correct?

Sy Reene

No idea how important, but if concerned, you could just take the chain off the chainrings in front

HillRider

As frequently noted here, leaving springs tensioned has no effect on their life. Leave the rd in whatever position you wish.

Iride01 

I've never worried about it. And for bikes I've had in storage for 10 or more years, it was more just an issue of cleaning the gummed up lube and crud than what gear they were in.

Certainly it won't hurt to put it in the smallest cogs front and back. But don't beat yourself up about it if you find out next year that you forgot.

FBinNY 

+1

Also applies to the cables. Metal under tension can stay that way forever. If this weren't true, we'd have to worry about our wheels and, of course, suspension bridges.

SoSmellyAir

Before I park (or hang) my bike, I shift onto the small ring (34T) and the middle cog of the cassette (17T). Not so much for reducing chain tension as for the 2:1 gear ratio I am used to starting up on (without leaving the drivetrain cross-chained).

SoSmellyAir

I get chain rub when riding on the small chain ring and any of the three physically smallest cog. Shimano says that is expected. Storing the bike on small:small may not cause an issue but getting there may very slightly increase wear. So before I park (or hang) my bike, I shift onto the small ring (34T) and the middle cog of the cassette (17T). Not so much for reducing tension on the chain or derailleur cables as for the 2:1 gear ratio I am used to starting up on (without leaving the drivetrain cross-chained).

Iride01 

Yes, I see your point. So I'll just add to be careful not to go more than 5000 miles or so while attempting to get the chain into the small/small combo. <grin>

However as I said in my first sentence of that post, I wouldn't worry the position of the DR at all. Otherwise why don't the springs get less springy from just normal riding and getting shifted to the big rear?

My bikes are always in the largest rear cog (physical size) when I finish a ride. I have a steeply sloped driveway to get up. So they spend most of their time in that large cog since my rides are only about 90 - 120 minutes 2 to 3 times a week. So overwhelmingly they spend the most time with the springs under tension.

sweeks

As long as the cable's yield strength is not exceeded. Especially for suspension bridges!

Keefusb

I think that I will play it safe and wrap my bottom bracket area with a towel and gently lift the chain off of the inner front chainring.

FBinNY 

I know you're being facetious, but in case others don't......

"Stay", as in "will stay that way forever", implies constancy.

Adding new stress up to or beyond yield, is a change and violates the conditions of the statement.

veganbikes

Live dangerously (kidding of course leaving a chain on is not dangerous and won't do any harm). If you are worried you might consider removing the chain entirely and clean it throughly and maybe wax coat it and vacuum seal it? I wouldn't do that as it is a lot work but you would have a nice clean and waxed chain come whenever you decide to ride again. I would rather just have the chain on the bike and maybe shift to small small if I was worried and that way as soon as that nice day comes (like it has been over the past few days in my area) I can get riding with minimal work usually just tire pumping if I hadn't kept up with that over the winter.

base2 

As noted, you can pretty much leave it shifted in any position you like. Everything has limits though. I frequently see weak derailleur springs that were stored for excessively long periods in big/big (or very nearly so). Not that it will hurt your system, but it can/could given the right extremes of time & tension.

I'd posit that small/small is best practice but absolutely not critical nor even necessary.

FBinNY 

This entire thread starts and ends on a false assumption. Namely that something might happen to a bike in storage.

Consider---- bikes are subject to daily abuse. They're rained on, splashed with filthy water in puddles, pounded by pot holes and bad pavements, beat up by gorillas standing on pedals when climbing, have chains constantly grinding on sprockets, and so on.

Compare that to whatever might happen hanging on a wall indoors.

The only extra needs for storing bikes is either keeping air in the tires, or hanging the bike to keep the weight off.

sweeks

Remember when someone wondered if their wheels would be damaged if the bke were stored hanging upside-down by the rims?