Does anyone use a derailleur protector?
prhymeate
Posts: 793
After someone came off their bike and bent the derailleur on a club ride last week, I've been thinking about buying one of these https://www.rosebikes.com/product/detail/aid:120891 Does anyone know if they work well? I carry a spare hanger in my bag anyway, but it'd be nicer if I never needed to use it.
0
Posts
If you do crash a lot though - go for it.
I don't, but I am one of those people who can't pack light 'just in case'.
That device will transfer the impact forces to the frame dropout - which the separate hanger was designed to prevent for alloy and carbon frames.
I am not sure I would carry a spare hanger except maybe pack one on a long tour/riding holiday. If the mech/hanger gets toasted on a ride then the best way forward is to bin it, wrap the chain around a cog of choice and take a small chunk out of the chain to go fixie. That way you get two gears with the FD (or three on a triple) which is enough to get anyone home, albeit with a bit of patience. Don't forget to turn Strava off first though, just in case anyone thinks you are a censored rider.
Yeah, seems odd that one. It will put the derailleur back in the firing line as the weakest link.
Yonks ago when I was a lad, my first mountain bike had a steel hoop that sat proud of the derailleur, like a bash guard. If you have probems with repeated breakages, something like that might make sense.
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rear-deraill ... oCTdfw_wcB
I had to help someone on a Sportive once, who had a snapped hanger. I did as Boninogs suggested - shorten the chain with my chain tool and spare KMC quick links, cable tie the derailleur to the seat stay and send him on his way. It didnt work as well as I hoped though, because I sized the chain for one of the middle cogs but as he rode it slid down to the smallest cog and the rear derailleur occasionally slipped around and started clipping the spokes and we couldnt find anywhere to tie it that would completely prevent this. Tried to minimise these but didnt get it to work properly. Got him home though, I think. Are there any tips to get this to work better?
Yep, one of our boys' first MTBs had a similar arrangement. Probably made sense given the way they were frequently crashed /chucked on the ground / dumped in a heap. IIRC the bike had a steel frame, so pretty robust.
I'd have taken the derailleur off completely and tied the cable out of the way.
Sizing the chain for singlespeed, small chainring, and to whichever cog gives a straight chain line, and try to get the chain as tight as possible sliding the wheel in the dropouts and clamping the QR. Can be a bit hit and miss; you don't get much room for adjustment, and the QR sometimes won't hold the axle where you put it (depends on the nature of the dropouts and the QR skewer, and how much oomph you're stomping on the pedals)
It is hit or miss (although a straight chain line helps a great deal) and the rider will have to be careful but it should get them home or to somewhere where they can wait for a pickup or a train station, etc.
You wouldnt bin the derailleur just because the hanger snapped though, would you. So need somewhere to put it and it will generally be covered in crud so jersey pocket not ideal and it might not be comfortable in there anyway. Zip tie it to the handlebars or underneath of the saddle might work though.
We eventually abandoned him in a garden centre coffee shop, rode home and collected him later.
He now has a universal hanger in his pack.
That should polish out Andy.