Bent Rear Derailleur Hanger



wj109l7

New Member
Nov 2, 2009
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I started using clip-ins shortly after purchasing my Jamis Aurora Elite earlier in Summer 2010. I've only fallen twice due to my clip-ins (surprisingly) in the past 5 months, but in both cases, I ended up bending my rear derailleur hanger which required adjustment at the bike shop. The frame is steel so the rear derailleur hanger just bent. Is this normal? Does a carbon or aluminum frame get ruined rather than bending like my steel frame does?
 
other materials get ruined, that area of the bike is rather sensitive and prone to dammage, so yes its normal.
 
gear hangers are sacreficial and will bend or break to protect the rear derailleur in the event of an accident. They can be straightened out once,provided they arent too bent. But remember they will be weaker. Ive personnally replaced 4 on my giant reign 2 in 3 years. buts thats because i thrash the trails as hard as i can and crash loads.
 
So why not just design the derailleur to snap. Of coarse its to protect the derailleur (but not exclusively). Which is not what i said.
When i snapped my first gear hanger (whilst charging through mud,and clogging up the back end) i phoned the bike shop to tell them about my misfortune and it was they that said that it broke to protect the derailleur. I was just passing on information,which i had gleaned.
Can we at least aggree that it is a sacreficial component that is designed to break to protect more expensive components.
consider that down hill bikes have gear hangers and their frames are bomb proof.
 
Quote:
I started using clip-ins shortly after purchasing my Jamis Aurora Elite earlier in Summer 2010. I've only fallen twice due to my clip-ins (surprisingly) in the past 5 months, but in both cases, I ended up bending my rear derailleur hanger which required adjustment at the bike shop. The frame is steel so the rear derailleur hanger just bent. Is this normal? Does a carbon or aluminum frame get ruined rather than bending like my steel frame does?


Replaceable derailleur hangers ARE very much intended to be sacrificial ...

Whether they are intended to protect the rear derailleur or the frame is, however, debateable ... I believe replaceable derailleur hangers are intended to save a significant frame repair.

As far as why a derailleur hanger bends on a steel frame ... well, it's not so much an intended design but a byproduct of being a relatively unsupported tab which can be leveraged by the additional length of the rear derailleur OR by the tool which is subsequently used to re-align it.

BTW. There is something that is decidely wrong if a person is continually bending the rear derailleur hanger on a Road bike ... at least, IMO ...

It sounds as though, in addition to the falls which have been described, you/(wj109l7) may have actually carelessly (?) dropping your bike on the pavement/sidewalk/wherever more than noce rather than the brunt of the damage occurring when you fell over with the bike ...

Because if you were falling to your right while still clipped in, I would think that the odds of a significant enough impact on the rear derailleur-and-hanger would be low because your body would more-than-likely be receiving the brunt of the fall ... maybe not, I suppose!?!

So, if-by-chance you are in the habit of dropping-your-bike ([COLOR= #808080]OR, if you are allowing it to fall onto the ground OR if you normally lay your bike on the ground on its drivesdie[/COLOR]) because it is leaning against a wall, then lean it so that it falls on the non-driveside BECAUSE if you bend the derailleur hanger enough times (probably, dozens for a steel hanger) it will eventually break and cause the derailleur to (probably) flop into the spokes.
 
Alfeng,

Thanks for the information. In my case, I've fallen and bent the hanger only twice since I first started using clip-ins 5 months ago. Otherwise, of course, I take good care of the bicycle. I actually thought that falling only twice in 5 months of cycling every day was an accomplishment! In each case, I did fall over directly on pavement. I was surprised that the hanger bent in both cases, but from the information I have gathered, this is be design.

Cheers!