Hey gang,
I picked up an old (late 90s) Raleigh Serengeti thats been sitting.
The shifters were completely gummed up, but came back with a disassembly and good cleaning.
The bike shifts well now, but the gears are completely unaligned.
Position #3 on the shifter window has the chain in granny gear and position #8 only gets it into the 2nd smallest cog.
Before I start adjusting the derailleur, I thought id ask the group if the (non replaceable) derailleur hanger looks bent.
If so, am I ok to bend it back in place, or will that just cause more problems?
by mjd2g2
12 Comments
Definitely seems that way
Yes… you can tell because of how it’s bent
https://preview.redd.it/co3izadpgfwh1.jpeg?width=2688&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=657fda97bfaa17402acea0f734ecfdc45079d57e
Yes the hanger is bent. There is a tool to realign but for 8 speed you can kinda eyeball it. Shift to the smallest cog then put a 5mm allen key in the rd bolt that inserts into the hanger. Grabbing the derailleur and using the leverage of the tool you can slowly ease the hanger to a better alignment. Be sure to check your limits after. This also might be worth the $25 at your lbs if you’re not feeling confident.
Very bent should be straight down. You can bend it back but don’t rush it, it will be a little weaker but if it snaps you will need to get something like this as a replacement.
https://preview.redd.it/2ibxtu2zgfwh1.jpeg?width=914&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64a174cf0590bdbd1e70d20cbfb9bd2fe8e14694
very
Yeah bend the hanger back to parallel with cogs. With the derailleur removed.
Awesome.
Thank you all for the advice!
Im glad I asked, because I didnt have a reference point, or much experience with this.
Ill see if I can get it back into alignment with the methods suggested.
Here goes nothing!
It’s bend I would guess it been in garage leaning on something
You can tell it’s bent cause of the way that it is
Not the optimum angle to be able to assess (align the camera so the engaged cog is directly above the hanger), but yes, looks bent.
Yes. Bent. Very easy to bend back close. You need proper tools to be perfect. You can get close just using an adjustable wrench to eyeball it. The top-inside part of the derailleur should be parallel to the cogs, so you need to bend that hanger out maybe 5 degrees.