Bent rear derailleur hanger Airborne titanium frame

[orbital]

+

Remember, your bike is only as good as its components.
You don't need top of the line, but garage sale/eBay stuff may be false economy in the end.


>>>>>I was not going to mention this, because it was far to ironic.

Two days before this thread, I was at a friends bike shop to say hi, I was looking at his steel framed bikes, then a Ti setup caught my eye.
We were chatting about the beautiful welds, then I told him the only reason I never considered a Ti frame is that they never have replaceable hangers,
"you never know what freakish thing can happen."

Two days later, this thread appeared......oo:

 

[127.0.0.1]

+

Remember, your bike is only as good as its components.
You don't need top of the line, but garage sale/eBay stuff may be false economy in the end.


>>>>>I was not going to mention this, because it was far to ironic.

Two days before this thread, I was at a friends bike shop to say hi, I was looking at his steel framed bikes, then a Ti setup caught my eye.
We were chatting about the beautiful welds, then I told him the only reason I never considered a Ti frame is that they never have replaceable hangers,
"you never know what freakish thing can happen."

Two days later, this thread appeared......oo:

my model Litespeed is no longer produced the same way. Mine is a 1999, and spot on, and I should
be able to ride it 20 more years with no frame issues, just replacing components. But new ones have replaceable der hangers.

 

[jtr1962]

My bike looks like it's from 2003. That's the only year Airborne made the Torch. When I was looking at Ti bikes last year, all the newer ones, such as this one, do in fact have replaceable hangers.

 

[TranquillityBase]

DIY alignment tool will suffice. You need high leverage for good 'feel', and easy bending/tweeking...If it's going to crack, it will crack. You're dead-in-the-water at this point anyway. Feel free to send me a PM (I have a friend that is Litespeed authorized for frame repair)...I'm sure he will lend some good advise.

 

[jtr1962]

Rear derailleur arrived today. It was a used Ultegra with only 200 miles on it. I installed it, adjusted the cable tension, removed two links from the chain, and all is well. This derailleur didn't seem to take up as much chain as the other one, which is why I needed to remove two links. However, I suspect the chain was too long even with the other derailleur. This may have caused the problem in the first place. Previously, the chain had come off twice while riding over bumpy streets.

I'll take it out later for a spin but so far it seems to shift flawlessly, even better than before. The chain doesn't jump gears when backpedaling as it did before either. I'll cautiously say my ad-hoc derailleur alignment "tool" worked.

 

[will]

Good Luck
quick question - do you re-use the chain pin? I did some reading and it was suggested that the pin that was removed, not be used again. There are replacement pins for the different sized chains.

 

[jtr1962]

Good Luck
quick question - do you re-use the chain pin? I did some reading and it was suggested that the pin that was removed, not be used again. There are replacement pins for the different sized chains.

Yes, I reused it. I've been doing that for years with no problems. If the chain breaks, I could always buy a replacement pin.

 

[will]

I re-use the same pin also. The only problem I have had over the years is that once in awhile the link is stiff and I have to reposition the pin a bit.

 

[jtr1962]

I re-use the same pin also. The only problem I have had over the years is that once in awhile the link is stiff and I have to reposition the pin a bit.

My chain tool can loosen tight links.

The bike seems OK. I did 20 miles and the shifting seemed fine. I missed a few downshifts, but I suspect it might be more because the cable is slightly frayed.

 

[will]

One thing that I have found with the various parts on my bikes is to keep them well lubed. The real derailleur seems to be the one part that is affected most by being a bit stiff. Lube the pins that allow the part to move up and down the cassette. I do this before I put the cable on, moving it up and down by hand. You can sometimes feel the improvement as the oil works it's way into the pins. I also lube the various cables before I put them in the cable housings. I suspect that you are aware of all of this.

My chain tool just removes and installs the pins. What kind of tool are you using?

 

[jtr1962]

Yes, I actually did lube the derailleur and cables with teflon dry lube. My chain tool looks exactly like the first picture in this article. I generally don't remove the pin completely. When I rejoin the chain, I'll use the lower position to push the pin slightly past where it's supposed to be. Generally, the link will be a little tight after I do that. I then use the upper position to push the pin the other way slightly, loosening the tight link in the process.

 

[Steve K]

.... I generally don't remove the pin completely. When I rejoin the chain, I'll use the lower position to push the pin slightly past where it's supposed to be. Generally, the link will be a little tight after I do that. I then use the upper position to push the pin the other way slightly, loosening the tight link in the process.

Is this an approved method for your chain? This was the standard procedure for chains back in the days of 5, 6 or 7 speed chains (when they were just a 3/32" wide chain, and eventually SunTour narrowed things up a bit with their "Ultra" spacing to fit 6 cogs onto a 120mm wide hub). I know that Shimano switched to replaceable pins that were intended to avoid damaging the side plates, and SRAM uses a master link that is easy to remove by hand.

If the chain isn't built to have the pins re-used, then I'd recommend switching to something like the SRAM with a master link. Re-using pins on most modern chains risks damage to the side link, which means it can pull off of the pin and jam up in the derailleurs. I had this happen on a new bike and it pulled the rear derailleur into the spokes. It's a bad bet to risk a derailleur and possible spoke and frame damage in order to avoid the cost of a master link or replacement pin.

regards,
Steve K.

 

[will]

The 'approved' method is to use a new pin. Shimano has replacement pins for each of the different size chains they make. The replacement pins have guide portion that you break off after the new pin is inserted. The reason that they don't want you to use the old pin is that old pin has part of the end sheared off when it it removed. If you think of the pin looking like a dumbbell, one side will be smaller after it is pushed through. If you push this pin through again, starting with the large side first, you can shear that off as well.

The newer Shimano chains have an inside and outside. They still use the replacement pin.

 

[jtr1962]

I'm aware that 9 and 10-speed, as well as some 8-speed, chains suggest using a replacement pin. In the future I'll do that. For the time being, the chain seems fine. I put 41 miles on the bike so far. I tried to find where I rejoined the chain, but couldn't. I'll examine the chain carefully after every ride for a while just to see if anything looks out of order. For what it's worth, I used my chain tool on the 10-speed chain on my Raleigh when I installed it 5650 miles ago, and all has been well ever since.

BTW, the chain on the Airborne does in fact have a master link which I would use to remove the chain for cleaning, etc. As such, I'm not seeing any need to use the chain tool ever again on this chain.

I'm not 100% sure what kind of chain the bike has but it looks very similar to this.

 

[will]

I tried to find where I rejoined the chain, but couldn't. .

I cleaned the link to remove the oil on the outside of the link. Then I colored it with a sharpie, not sure how long that will last, but I can still see the marking.

 

[will]

I have an old bike here in Florida. I sent the frame and fork up to NY while I was in NY to repaint it and remove the rust. I used Duplicolor Mirage paint. Purple and Green, It shifts color as the viewing angle changes. Sent it back to Florida and put it back together. I had trouble shifting and found the rear derailleur hangar was slightly bent. I took a look at the Park tool, around $60 - $70 and decided that for the one time it was not worth buying the tool. I figured I could put something together my self, not as good as the Park tool, but good enough. The most difficult part - finding the M10 - 1 bolt to screw into the hangar. That is a metric extra fine thread. I was able to locate them and some M10-1 nuts on ebay. The arm is a 1 inch aluminum angle from Lowe's. I use a small clamp and a pencil for the 'indicator' After around $10 the tool, which is not real elegant, worked fine. I can't bend the hangar using my tool. and I can't slide the indicator on the aluminum angle, but it got me a lot closer to an exact alignment.

 

[jtr1962]

I have an old bike here in Florida. I sent the frame and fork up to NY while I was in NY to repaint it and remove the rust. I used Duplicolor Mirage paint. Purple and Green, It shifts color as the viewing angle changes. Sent it back to Florida and put it back together. I had trouble shifting and found the rear derailleur hangar was slightly bent. I took a look at the Park tool, around $60 - $70 and decided that for the one time it was not worth buying the tool. I figured I could put something together my self, not as good as the Park tool, but good enough. The most difficult part - finding the M10 - 1 bolt to screw into the hangar. That is a metric extra fine thread. I was able to locate them and some M10-1 nuts on ebay. The arm is a 1 inch aluminum angle from Lowe's. I use a small clamp and a pencil for the 'indicator' After around $10 the tool, which is not real elegant, worked fine. I can't bend the hangar using my tool. and I can't slide the indicator on the aluminum angle, but it got me a lot closer to an exact alignment.

Modern derailleurs are actually somewhat tolerant of misalignment, meaning you can be a degree or two off and everything probably will work OK.

Over seven months and 3000+ miles after my realignment, all is still well. The chain broke about a week after I rejoined it. The second time around I used a punch to flatten the end of the pin so it wouldn't slide out again. No problems ever since. In fact, the bike has been largely trouble free other than routine maintenance like brake cables, chain cleaning, occasional truing. Only mishap was a broken rear hub shell but I had put 1500 miles on the wheels, in addition to whatever the original owner put on them. I bought a new set of wheels since I figured I was due.

Good luck with your old bike project. I'm going to refurbish my rusty old Raleigh this winter once I can find someplace to weld the broken rear chainstay. Should be a fun project.

 

[will]

I completely stripped the frame and fork. I tried to get original decals for the bike, no luck with that. I did find a place that makes custom vinyl lettering. Decals would have been better....

 

[will]

maybe a dumb question - My old Schwinn was a 10 speed road bike in its original form. I converted it to a 14 speed with Shimano Indexed Shifting (SIS) . I replaced the down tube shifters with 7 speed SIS and the rear Cogs with 7 speeds. I also put on a Simano 105 rear derailleur. This all works fine. I am pretty sure the shifter and the number of rear cogs should be the same for the SIS to work properly.

Is there any difference in the rear derailleur? Other than long arm or short arm... Is the geometry the same for all rear derailleurs?

 

[jtr1962]

maybe a dumb question - My old Schwinn was a 10 speed road bike in its original form. I converted it to a 14 speed with Shimano Indexed Shifting (SIS) . I replaced the down tube shifters with 7 speed SIS and the rear Cogs with 7 speeds. I also put on a Simano 105 rear derailleur. This all works fine. I am pretty sure the shifter and the number of rear cogs should be the same for the SIS to work properly.

Is there any difference in the rear derailleur? Other than long arm or short arm... Is the geometry the same for all rear derailleurs?

As far as I know, so long as you match the shifter and number of rear cogs you're good to go. You just need to pick a rear derailleur which can handle the range of teeth for your particular setup-long cage for wide range gearing, short cage for typical road bike gearing, medium cage for something in between.