Mech Hangers Are Expensive

georgebrailsford
georgebrailsford Posts: 23
edited March 2013 in MTB general
So mech hangers are a deliberate weak link which protects your frame and your derailleur from being written off if you bash the back around a bit much. Why are they so expensive? And why, if they are deliberately weak, are they not plastic? Assuming plastic ones would be cheaper to replace than alloy or machined ones. I'm asking because i've slid off alot recently due to the roads being covered in lovely loose grit salt and i'm on my 3rd replacement since Christmas, at about a tenner a go it's becoming quite expensive.
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Comments

  • quit belly aching. Wish mine had broken today instead of my XTR rear mech...... £140 down the drain! I suggest you need to scan the road better if you're falling off on tarmac!
  • stubs
    stubs Posts: 5,001
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  • well if your mech broke your hanger was too strong....so it should've been cheaper/softer plastic?
  • stubs
    stubs Posts: 5,001
    The hanger is to protect the frame not the mech.
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  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    Does your brain hurt a lot?
    It needs to be rigid as well or your indexing will be a bit off, all the time.
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  • concorde
    concorde Posts: 1,008
    cooldad wrote:
    Does your brain hurt a lot?
    It needs to be rigid as well or your indexing will be a bit off, all the time.

    And you can't get rigid plastic?! That's a new one on me!
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    Concorde wrote:
    cooldad wrote:
    Does your brain hurt a lot?
    It needs to be rigid as well or your indexing will be a bit off, all the time.

    And you can't get rigid plastic?! That's a new one on me!
    Read his post again. He said softer plastic. And then you'd need metal inserts to bolt the mech into.
    Keep up.
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  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    But the actual problem seems to be falling off a lot.
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  • granted that is my problem. but ricardo_smooths problem is that his derailleur broke. Why are the "weak links" not properly weak and cheaper to replace, thus protecting the derailleur and the frame
  • also you'd only need a metal thread insert for the derailleur to attach to
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    Because, as mentioned, it's there to save your frame, not your mech. Steel frames have integral hangers but you can bend steel. Aluminium would snap.
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  • i know, i just feel it would make more sense to protect both by making them snap-ier. Especially because doing so would probably make them cheaper. I'm not arguing that they shouldn't exist, i understand why they are used and why they're made like they are, I just think that making them differently could result in something better. Whether i'm right or not...... that's just my ha'penny :)
  • Quite simple really. I don't want my mech falling off with every small knock. And be careful.
  • well that would be too weak, the perfect strength would allow it to snap just before the derailleur broke.
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    It is a balancing act. Stiff enough to withstand the way the mech works and light knocks, weak enough to sacrifice itself and save the frame.

    But I agree, they are stupidly expensive for a small piece of alloy.
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    stubs wrote:

    why?

    that FUBARs everything.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
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  • chez_m356
    chez_m356 Posts: 1,893
    at about a tenner a go it's becoming quite expensive.
    be glad your only paying a tenner, it would cost me double that
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  • Plyphon
    Plyphon Posts: 433
    I'm thinking about taking my hanger into a mate who has a CNC machine, and asking him to copy it, and quote me for it.

    Just to see if they really do cost pennies.
  • stubs
    stubs Posts: 5,001
    I think the problem is there are about 200 different designs of hanger out there if the bike manufacturers could agree on say 2 or 3 designs we probably could buy them for about £3 each. I know nothing about CNC machines but I bet the main cost is setting them up for each new design. If it was so easy then the Chinese who can knock out CNC machined LED lights for £10 would be making them and selling them for noodles.
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  • DodgeT
    DodgeT Posts: 2,255
    http://www.muckynutz.com/index.php?rout ... duct_id=61
    I assume it lets you change gear?! If it does, why can't a beefier permanent universal hanger exist?
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    Plyphon wrote:
    I'm thinking about taking my hanger into a mate who has a CNC machine, and asking him to copy it, and quote me for it.

    Just to see if they really do cost pennies.
    Careful making it too strong unless you want to lose your frame - there is a reason they are made of cheesy cast alloy.
    I don't do smileys.

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  • Really don't see the problem, it's the first thing I buy when I get a new bike/frame and then it goes in the Camelback.

    I think that the one for the Summum cost £19 but I don't want a day's DH uplift to be wasted because of a failure.

    Never had to replace one yet, but I know it's there so that I can carry on the ride if needed.
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    cooldad wrote:
    Plyphon wrote:
    I'm thinking about taking my hanger into a mate who has a CNC machine, and asking him to copy it, and quote me for it.

    Just to see if they really do cost pennies.
    Careful making it too strong unless you want to lose your frame - there is a reason they are made of cheesy cast alloy.

    It's going to be expensive to make as a one off. For one similar to the mech hanger on my Scalp I would quote around £150 - £175 including the steel thread insert. You also need to get the right grade aluminium, it may not be the same as the frame and it may need heat treatment. I wouldn't bother with it, much easier and cheaper to just buy one.

    Mech hangers can't be designed to fail before the mech because there are so many different mech's which vary massively in strength. If they were designed to suit the weakest good quality mech you would still be bending hangers regularly.
  • welshkev
    welshkev Posts: 9,690
    3 hangers and a new mech for me in the last 6 months, quit your whining :wink::lol:
  • ilovedirt
    ilovedirt Posts: 5,798
    You should all be glad you don't ride an intense, £150 for a replacement hanger!
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  • bennett_346
    bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
    stubs wrote:
    I think the problem is there are about 200 different designs of hanger out there if the bike manufacturers could agree on say 2 or 3 designs we probably could buy them for about £3 each. I know nothing about CNC machines but I bet the main cost is setting them up for each new design. If it was so easy then the Chinese who can knock out CNC machined LED lights for £10 would be making them and selling them for noodles.
    If it's CNC'd surely there's no cost to changing the design it outputs other than the code monkey who reprogrammes the tooling machine?

    I imagine they are made in one of these or similar, correct me if i'm wrong:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNPojGFg9-8
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    Not necessarily. Different hangers may be using different cutters and different tooling to hold the hanger during machining. They also need processing separately and packing separately.
    Design is also an expensive process, the component will have to go through design, FEA, detailing, CNC programming and all the document control bollocks.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Volume saves....always worth seeing if the Carrera one will fit as Halfords do them for £7.99......
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    CRC are selling ones that fit my Kona for £4.99. I've stocked up on a couple.
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  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Most are not CNCd, they are forged ie smacked with a big press.