Okay, some mild updates.
I've bent and tweaked the hanger with crescent wrenches at least two dozen
times now. Worked on it during the miserable heat wave here and during
nicer weather yesterday. During the process I remove the chain and the
derailer, tweak the hanger, re-install the chain and derailer, test ride.
Repeat. Over and over! Every time I ride the bike the chain skips.
I've tried aligning by hand and eye. I've used a series of straight edges,
trying to reference off the cassette to the face of the derailer hanger
where the derailer sits. I can get the straight edges into plane with one
another but evidently that's not enough because the chain still jumps.
I feel like I can finesse this thing back into working order but I have so
far been unsuccessful. The hanger is relatively flat considering how
mangled it got. It's considerably better than it was. The bolt hole is
elongated but fortunately derailer bolts screw in nicely and the threads
feel good. Through all my uninstalling/reinstalling the bolts thread in
nicely each time.
One problem is that the guys at the LBS have put their dropout and hanger
alignment tools on the bike and they say the tools show things are aligned.
*But* they are also audibly and visibly weary of putting too much torque on
the hanger and seem to think it's going to shear off the frame if they look
at it funny. I don't think that's going to happen. I talked to Grant about
this twice now and he doesn't think that's going to happen, either. He
shared an acedote wherein he bent a derailer hanger through 180º of motion
several times before the hanger sheared off. I'm not moving mine nearly as
much, just a bit at a time. And today I heard Grant Petersen say "Steel is
magical." So I'm adding that to my lifetime book of memorable quotes by
notable people.
There's another shop in town but I get bad vibes every time I go in there
so I'm going to spare myself and stay away. I know if I go in there it'll
end up being a bad scene and I'll regret it.
I'm open to having a builder try to align the hanger, heat it up and shape
it or braze a new dropout onto the frame. But the builder I know and have
worked with before on three other bikes (this Hillborne included) has sold
his tools and retired. Two other nearby builders haven't returned my
messages.
Now I'm thinking the best next step is to drop > $100 on a derailer hanger
alignment tool and try it myself in the home shop. Looking at the Park Tool
DAG 2.2. This eliminates the hesitancy of other mechanics (I'm not afraid
to wreck the bike) and gives me a useful tool to have forever.
Full options going forward (as I see them, open to suggestions as always):
- Buy a gauge and adjust it myself until I'm satisfied or I give up and
advance to next option
- Take it to a shop
- Go-to shop seems afraid to break my hanger, I don't think that's
going to happen but they are audibly and visibly weary.
- Other shop in town I avoid at all costs and don't want to take my
bikes to them
- Get a new dropout welded onto the bike
- I wouldn't mind doing this but I can't find a builder in my area
- Contacted three people. One retired, the other two haven't
responded.
- Send it to Rivendell
- Grant thinks Mark or Antonio can fix the hanger. Cool!
- Grant said to send the bike stripped down, no fork. How are they
going to align and test it to see if the chain jumps?
- I don't reaaaally want to freight the bike coast-to-coast twice.
Not a dealbreaker, tho.
- Grant said if Mark or Antonio can't get it he knows a builder who
can do the repair but it could be three months before I get the bike back.
- This leads me back to...
- Buy a gauge and adjust it myself
If you've made it this far, wow, you are invested in this repair! Thanks
for checking in. I'll post more updates as they develop.
On Wednesday, August 2, 2023 at 11:03:10 PM UTC-4 Eric Marth wrote:
> Thanks, Ryan. Yes, I think the cost for the repair would be reasonable. I
> worry the cost to freight the frame would be a little painful and the time
> without the bike could be considerable depending on how it shakes out.
>
> The poster is the MTB countryside illustration, same illustrator who did
> yours. "Get away fast on a Bridgestone" or something like that. Hills, dirt
> road, country church.
>
> On Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 7:36:10 AM UTC-4 Ryan wrote:
>
>> Yikes! That is too bad but I'm glad you weren't hurt. I know you are very
>> ingenious, but maybe the frame needs to be sent to Riv for repair? Who will
>> no doubt do the repair at a reasonable cost
>>
>> Which poster? I have the "saddle up on a bridgestone"...my favorite of
>> the Grant-inspired ones...the one with the rider on a roadbike alongside a
>> galloping horse. Can't remember if I bought it from Rivendell or from a
>> friend of mine who built many of my wheels and at one time was a
>> bridgestone dealer and sold me my 1993 X0-1 that I still have
>>
>> On Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 4:55:39 AM UTC-5 R. Alexis wrote:
>>
>>> That does not look good. Maybe once you get it into a stand and
>>> carefully remove the derailleur and gently realign the hanger you will be
>>> fine. The rear der pully cage can probably be bent back into shape. Issue
>>> is probably trusting it. Hope things work out. Glad you were not hurt.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Reginald Alexis
>>>
>>> On Sunday, July 23, 2023 at 2:13:02 PM UTC-5 eric...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hey gang — I was out for a Sunday ride and stopped to take a picture. I
>>>> rolled to the side of the road and did not see the culvert, hidden with
>>>> fresh grass clippings. I tumbled over at low speed. I'm fine!
>>>>
>>>> When I stood up I noticed my drive-side bar end shifter had rotated
>>>> 90º. And my derailer hanger and the derailer were bent. I spun the crank
>>>> while off the bike and it seemed to move okay so I thought I'd give it a
>>>> go
>>>> as a single speed.
>>>>
>>>> I pedaled for a few strokes, then nudged the shifter. It was at that
>>>> time the derailer turned upside down and inside out, bending into the
>>>> spokes and throwing the chain. It was really fun!
>>>>
>>>> [image: Screenshot 2023-07-23 at 3.05.28 PM.png]
>>>>
>>>> This is my Hillborne, my most-ridden bike. I'll see if the hanger can
>>>> be bent but I have a feeling it will require some work from a frame
>>>> builder. That's a Suntour Cyclone. Fortunately I have five of them
>>>> (including this one). You might recall the cage tension spring in my
>>>> previous Cyclone recently failed. This is one of the replacements I picked
>>>> up. It was in excellent shape but now it's going to the salvage bin.
>>>>
>>>> While I was waiting for a ride four people stopped to ask if they could
>>>> help me. One was a cyclist who said "You need anything?" I replied "I
>>>> need derailer hanger, a rear mech and a welding torch!"
>>>>
>>>> Hope your weekend rides weren't so mechanically eventful.
>>>>
>>>> Eric
>>>>
>>>
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