jtr1962
Flashaholic
Last August I purchased an Airborne Titanium bike on eBay. The bike has been perfect until today, with only a few minor issues which were easily corrected. Today about 2 miles into a ride I suddenly felt the pedals stop and a great deal of resistance in the rear wheel bought me to a stop. Fortunately I was slowed by traffic just starting out as the light changed, so I was only going about 10 mph when this happened. Right after this occurred, I noticed one of the derailleur pulleys on the road. The rear derailleur somehow got caught up on the rear cluster. I really have no idea how this occurred. I've been riding for over 3 decades and never had something like this happen.
The bad news is the rear derailleur looks pretty damaged. The worse news is the derailleur hanger is bent out of alignment. If I had to guess how much, I'd say between 5 and 10 degrees. I tried bending it back with a small adjustable wrench but this didn't work much, if at all. I've read conflicting accounts on bending titanium hangers. Some people say you can do it, others say you risk cracking the frame. I'm reluctant to use more leverage. Would hammering it back into alignment be a better course of action? Note that this hanger is 1/4" thick. It's beyond me how it could have bent in the first place. The forces involved just didn't seem that great. The rear wheel was only out of true maybe 4 or 5 mm after the incident.
Any advice on how to proceed would be appreciated. And does anyone know an inexpensive source for Dura Ace 7800 rear derailleur parts? Specifically, it looks like I'll need to replace B-tension adjustment screw, one of the pulley bolts, and the inner plate. One of the pulleys looks a little chewed up but I could probably grind the burrs off so it's useable.
The bad news is the rear derailleur looks pretty damaged. The worse news is the derailleur hanger is bent out of alignment. If I had to guess how much, I'd say between 5 and 10 degrees. I tried bending it back with a small adjustable wrench but this didn't work much, if at all. I've read conflicting accounts on bending titanium hangers. Some people say you can do it, others say you risk cracking the frame. I'm reluctant to use more leverage. Would hammering it back into alignment be a better course of action? Note that this hanger is 1/4" thick. It's beyond me how it could have bent in the first place. The forces involved just didn't seem that great. The rear wheel was only out of true maybe 4 or 5 mm after the incident.
Any advice on how to proceed would be appreciated. And does anyone know an inexpensive source for Dura Ace 7800 rear derailleur parts? Specifically, it looks like I'll need to replace B-tension adjustment screw, one of the pulley bolts, and the inner plate. One of the pulleys looks a little chewed up but I could probably grind the burrs off so it's useable.