Cycling myths and derailleur spring tension

[weaponsgrade]

I've heard that you should always store your bikes with derailleurs shifted to the small ring/cog to reduce the spring tension in the derailleurs. The theory (or myth) goes that this will help prevent the spring from "stretching." The engineer in me says that this is BS. Nonetheless, that's how I try and store my bikes. Has anyone else heard of this?

[Lifelover]

The engineer in you is right. A spring should/will not take a set unless it is stretched beyond it's ultimate strength (or what ever it is called).

[Tobias]

The engineer in me says that this is BS.
You think its BS but do it anyway? If you follow that logic it should also help keep the cable from stretching. :rolleyes:

[Tobias]

The engineer in you is right. A spring should/will not take a set unless it is stretched beyond it's ultimate strength (or what ever it is called).
Springs don't normally yield because they are designed well below the ultimate strength of the material in order to avoid fatigue.

To stretch you'd have to exceed the yield or elastic stress.

[AndrewS]

Gun people are always arguing this about magazine springs. The engineer types insist that proper springs don't set from just compression - it takes cycles. And everyone else has had mag springs wear out. The debate rages on.

Who knows how close your low gear is to the elastic limit? You certainly wouldn't ride in that gear very much, so the derailleur didn't have to be designed with that gear in mind. So it certainly wouldn't hurt to avoid that often unused position during storage.

Of note, older Shimano derailleurs had a cam that allowed you to increase rear derailleur spring tension. Was this to combat worn springs?


I leave my bikes in the small chainring and center of the cassette. I've never thought about spring set, but it is certainly easier to start riding a bike that is in one of the middle gears.

[RPS]

My Honday CR-V just passed 200,000 miles. Ride height on the original springs looks exactly the same; and they are always holding up the car's full weight. If springs sag over time maybe it's because they are not designed properly.

[csm]

if you store it in the small/small combination, any savings of der. springs would be negated by the additional stress on the chain.

[shiftyfixedgear]

I think it is O.K to not have the derailleur shifted all the way down - UNLESS you hang your bicycle up by the rear wheel. The lower spring tension will tend to make the rim stretch out and turn all oval then.

Everybody knows not to hang your bike up by the rear wheel.

Hope this was a help.

[AndrewS]

der. springs would be negated by the additional stress on the chain. Kidding?

[djg]

I've heard that you should always store your bikes with derailleurs shifted to the small ring/cog to reduce the spring tension in the derailleurs. The theory (or myth) goes that this will help prevent the spring from "stretching." The engineer in me says that this is BS. Nonetheless, that's how I try and store my bikes. Has anyone else heard of this?

I'm not sure why this should be a problem.

At the practical, just bein' cautious level . . . when you put bikes into storage, how many years do you leave them there? That sounds snootier than I mean it to, especially as I have no materials expertise to offer. But, I mean, I'd be seriously worried about the component's ability to do its basic job shift after shift for thousands of miles before I'd worry about a little bit of spring tension (in relatively constant application) over a weekend or a week. We know that these things can hold up just fine for multiple years of regular use, thousands (tens of thousands) of miles when the precaution is not taken.

[csm]

Kidding?
seriously?

[AndrewS]

Half the stuff that gets posted here seriously is in that vein. I couldn't tell from your post which category it belonged to.

[csm]

I thought this topic was kidding....
cabin fever.....