Cheap rear mech recommendations

Lucky Luke

My pal's mountain bike rear derailleur is shot . I need a long cage Shimano mech to work with 7 speed shifters . Nothing expensive the bike's a cheap one (diamondback S10) . Not used to MTB stuff (roadie you see) , had a look at Chain reaction 's site but don't know what to buy . Please help .

desweller

How cheap is cheap?

My hybrid came with a Tourney rear mech & 7-speed freehub. I covered over 5000 road miles with it before replacing it with a Sora mech as part of a general change to 8-speed, but the mech was still shifting very nicely at the time (in fact it is now doing duty on my next-door neighbour's bike, replacing her ancient 5-speed Suntour). It handled the winter grime better than the Sora mech has, but perhaps I'll cut Shimano some slack as last winter was fairly harsh round here!

You can pick the Tourney units up new on eBay for £6 or £7 last time I looked, but I doubt they're up to much more than riding towpaths and bridleways. Not very aesthetically pleasing either.

Des

GHill

I'd personally go for Deore, assuming that's cheap enough.

It should work fine with 7-speed shifters, it's just a matter of H and L screws and getting the tension right.

-liam-

Acera mech is reliable enough for 7 gears. Don't see the point in deore. Not sure it even works below 8 speed.

I have a nearly new Acera mech. pm me if you are interested.

supersonic

They all work - shifter pulls cable, mech does what it is told.

As above, on a budget, Tourney is good. ALtus is a bit lighter with smoother joints.