inexpensive but effective hanger alignment tool

[AngryScientist]

the good news is the rest of the ride was pretty spectacular.

i have unfinished business on this route though. i'll be back.

good thing i have a back-up road bike.

or two

or three

or....

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by reuben

I did a bit of searching, and it looks like that part is made of T6061 aluminum - not the kind of material that I would expect to shear off on a bicycle. I wonder if it had a material defect that finally failed, or if your white hot awesome gigawatt power was just too much for it.

no, that's the problem, on centaur RD, that's a composite part, not metal.

probably fine for "design loads" - but probably not much more than that.

[robt57]

Originally Posted by angryscientist

good thing i have a back-up road bike.

Or two

or three

or....

12 ?

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by robt57

12 ?

i would never be so foolish to count them and then admit to that number on the WWW.

[gbcoupe]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i would never be so foolish to count them and then admit to that number on the WWW.

Pretty sure he's got well over 12.

I bought a Park Tool here for a good price. Works great! Should have bought one years ago.

As David Kirk mentioned, threading a wheel into the hanger works very well.

[Peter P.]

There's nothing to align.

Those derailleur hangers are aluminum, and tweaking them weakens them considerably. They're not designed to be bent, unlike steel dropouts/hangers.

As has already been mentioned; buy a couple spare derailleur hangers and always have one in stock.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

There's nothing to align.

Those derailleur hangers are aluminum, and tweaking them weakens them considerably. They're not designed to be bent, unlike steel dropouts/hangers.

As has already been mentioned; buy a couple spare derailleur hangers and always have one in stock.

While it is true that aluminum doesn't tolerate the larger degrees of bending that steel (or titanium) do, in my experience aluminum hangers can handle minor alignment adjustments. Not all replaceable hangers become perfectly aligned when installed, and often require minor tweaking.

[FriarQuade]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

There's nothing to align.

Those derailleur hangers are aluminum, and tweaking them weakens them considerably. They're not designed to be bent, unlike steel dropouts/hangers.

As has already been mentioned; buy a couple spare derailleur hangers and always have one in stock.

Bending aluminum hangers a little is just fine. I've aligned every hanger I've put on a bike for the last 15 years. They're all out at least a little, even when new.

[ridethecliche]

The rule of thumb is that if a Al Rd hangar can survive being bent back into shape then it can survive being used.

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by weisan

Having the tool is only as good as remembering to use it when it's necessary.

Spent a few hours troubleshooting a shifting issue for a friend, check on everything including the hangar...but I just "eyeballed" it and called it as "good" instead of getting off my butt and get the tool from the garage.

In the end, I couldn't resolve the issue and she brought it to another friend who used his hangar alignment tool and low and behold, he confirmed that it was bent. Enough for her to jump shift on the last few cogs.

(sigh)

No more eyeballing for me.

Stop being lazy, weisan!

Listening is even better. I can't tell you how many hangers are bent just enough to make the shifting noisy that I couldn't see

I have a HAG. MUCH nicer than the Park that I use on the van. A hanger alignment tool is pretty much a 'buy it once and have it for a lifetime' kind of thing so it makes sense to buy the nice stuff and not half-arse it.

M

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

yea, the mid cage 11-sp kit is getting hard to find and expensive these days.

this may be what pushes me to go to 12. this is my favorite road bike though, i dont want to have it OOC for too long.

You already have the crank and brakes. I say go for it. Zero regrets here.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

Ahha yah you def can’t eye ball. Sometimes I use the tool and tells me its right but it looks wrong. I have to say though I bought it for a bike that made noise and thought was the hanger, turns out it wasn't and usually only use the hanger if I bring a new frame to the house or if I know I bent the hanger. One of those tools that we barely use but its great to have. Specially now that shops are so busy.

Reminds me of 'those' who say their 'hands' or 'ears' can tell if something if 'off', crank bolt or spoke tension..Had a guy who brought in bike with shifting issues..he 'said' he checked the der hanger, 'it looked ok but...' then went about mangling it with a adjustable wrench. It was 'kinda' straight, and cracked..Wheels Manufacturing to the rescue.

On Modern carbon bikes, hangers are SO soft..a decent der hanger alignment tool is essential. As is a torque wrench and spoke tension meter...If ya build or true wheels..and a decent truing stand, and a decent dishing tool, and a........you get the idea.

[smontanaro]

Originally Posted by FriarQuade

If budget is top of mind ...

There are a couple variations on the theme shown in YouTube videos. Friar's seems the most straightforward. The other I recall was almost a reproduction of the Park tool.

[smontanaro]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

that's even better and saves me a trip to the store!

I just bought it. In communication with the seller, he stated that all their tools are made in El Cajon, CA. So win/win inexpensive and MUSA...