New hanger or alignment tool?

londoncommuter

I had a small crash yesterday and my derailleur hanger is now a little out of alignment. Ideally I need to get it sorted by next weekend. What are people's thoughts on fixing or just replacing?

I was looking at the tools and there don't seem to be hundreds of options out there. Wiggle do a pretty good looking Lifeline one for £26 but it's out of stock at the moment. They also do a Cyclus one for £30 but it sounds a little ropey (gauge not extending to the wheel rim etc). Then there's the Park but at nearer £50 that's starting to get pretty pricey.

Against this, a new hanger is only £19 (I've only needed one other new hanger on a bike in years of riding)

I appreciate some sensible people make their own tools but not overly keen on that.

Excuse the ramble but I guess my question is are these a great purchase I'll treasure forever / something hardly ever used clogging the house up and are there any better options out there if I need it in bit of a hurry?

47p2

Fitting a new hanger won't cure the problem if the frame has a slight twist. Your LBS will check it for a few pounds.

londoncommuter

Thanks for the reply. You mean if the frame has always been a bit out of alignment? Good point but in my case it used to shift fine before the slide across the tarmac (although having said that someone did align the hanger about six months ago for me but that's after 3 years of use so it must have got knocked at some point).

LBS not really an option unfortunately as none of them round here are open at any convenient times.

ugo.santalucia

Material of the frame?

londoncommuter

It's a Boardman Team Carbon road frame (needs BETD hanger 147 apparently). Does make me a bit twichier about the idea of bending something attached by little bolts to something else carbon.....

ugo.santalucia

It's almost impossible to bend carbon, therefore it's the hanger. Get a new one, they are cheap

satanas

Never assume that derailleur hangers are straight out of the box!!! If the old one isn't very bent, I'd straighten it using the appropriate alignment tool. I'd *also* buy a spare, and check it for alignment too. That way, if something happens again a repair can be made easily. IMHO it's worth keeping a spare derailleur hanger in stock at all times as they don't cost much and one never knows when one might be needed at short notice.

londoncommuter

Thanks guys for the tips. Any advice on which tool to get if I go down that route? The Park ones looks too expensive, don't want to make my own and the Cyclus one looks a little ropey.

ugo.santalucia

londoncommuter wrote:

Thanks guys for the tips. Any advice on which tool to get if I go down that route? The Park ones looks too expensive, don't want to make my own and the Cyclus one looks a little ropey.

I have the Park one... it is a glorified steel bar with a screw and a vague gauge system kept in place by rubber bands... I think they are all just the same... not worth bothering spending money on them

satanas

I have the Cyclus tool and while it's not fancy it does the job perfectly well. Bending the hanger is easy - the more difficult part is being able to see or decide what is straight enough. Be careful and patient!