Derailleur woes!

[FrankBouwer]

Has anyone out there had issues with rear derailleurs? I keep destroying the cages on my rear derailleur. Originally my bike came with a 12 speed SRAM NX Eagle and I managed to bend the derailleur regularly enough that when it was time to upgrade I fitted a 12 speed Shimano SLX with fond memories of the indestructible SLX on my old Giant. 5 rides later my derailleur was mangled beyond recognition once again... The problem appears to be 2 fold, firstly in an effort to reduce weight the derailleur cages have become extremely fragile and with the big cogs on modern cassettes the cages have become very long and thus close to the ground. I have been looking at the robust cage (98mm) on an old 10 speed SLX derailleur and considering either a “cage transplant” or converting my bike back to 10 speed so as to be able to use the old “bulletproof “ derailleur. Has anyone else had this issue and come up with a work around? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Regards

 

[Gary]

Have you considered paying attention to where you are going and planning ahead while riding? Particularly in respect to how close the right side of your rear wheel is to trail and trailside obsticles?

 

[FrankBouwer]

I’m afraid that you’re right, that would fix it for sure! ?I like to explore new trails so if there’s a fork in the trail and one side looks like it’s been ridden regularly I’ll automatically take the path less traveled! Obviously the reason that the tracks aren’t ridden often is that they haven’t been maintained and are usually severely overgrown and often parts are completely erased. This makes seeing what is near your derailleur extremely difficult and often impossible... It’s the reason I bought an emtb, to go exploring places that I couldn’t get to on a Mtb unless I put it over my shoulder (I’ve had to put the emtb on my shoulder on occasions too when my eyes have been bigger than my tummy ?). It’s just annoying having to straighten the derailleur regularly...

 

[Zimmerframe]

Have you considered paying attention to where you are going and planning ahead while riding?

If he's like me, each meter covered is normally a bit of a shock and surprise ! It's a bit like playing a computer game with endless fast moving baddies endlessly coming at you .. like the later levels of space invaders ..

No idea how but I had a branch fly up and come in from the left side the other day, through one of the holes in the brake disk, through the spokes and then trapped between the chain/cassette ! I was impressed. It must have aimed itself just between the derailleur and the cassette - amazing shot. Nature is a marvellous thing.

I'm surprised no ones come up with a cunning way to use an old tyre, some tie wraps and some razor blades to make the "Derailleur deflector" - or maybe just fit an old tyre round the whole chainring/cassette/derailleur ? Genius !

 

[Gary]

I had a branch fly up and come in from the left side the other day

Hmm.. OK Harry Potter... Whatever you say.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Mmm

Hmm.. OK Harry Potter... Whatever you say.

Should have taken a picture ! Was most impressive and had the side effect of instantly locking the back wheel .. Please, I think we know each other now, just call me Harry.

 

[Gary]

I’m afraid that you’re right, that would fix it for sure! ?I like to explore new trails so if there’s a fork in the trail and one side looks like it’s been ridden regularly I’ll automatically take the path less traveled! Obviously the reason that the tracks aren’t ridden often is that they haven’t been maintained and are usually severely overgrown and often parts are completely erased. This makes seeing what is near your derailleur extremely difficult and often impossible... It’s the reason I bought an emtb, to go exploring places that I couldn’t get to on a Mtb unless I put it over my shoulder (I’ve had to put the emtb on my shoulder on occasions too when my eyes have been bigger than my tummy ?). It’s just annoying having to straighten the derailleur regularly...

Pretty sure most of us explore new tracks on our bikes.
Stop projecting.
It happening because YOU are making it happen.

 

[Jackware]

Frank 'I can get through there' Bouwer ?

 

[Sidepod]

I do wish Gary would just come out and say what's on his mind!

 

[FrankBouwer]

Frank 'I can get through there' Bouwer ?

View attachment 55235

?

 

[FrankBouwer]

? So basically to alleviate the issue pay more attention to where I’m going! ?

 

[7869hodgy]

I am just about to replace my XT 12-Speed rear derailleur after 2200km of service. It has a few scrapes on it but that’s all.

I ride a lot in the woods and hear “stuff” flipping up and hitting the frame/wheel/shin etc. It does make me wonder how lucky I have been.

However, I lost a valve and therefore got a flat due to stick/branch making its way through the rear wheel, hitting the frame and snapping....taking the valve,air and tubeless gunk with it.

I guess I have been lucky by the looks of it.

Wait until I post after the new derailleur takes a kicking after a couple of rides.

 

[outerlimits]

Has anyone out there had issues with rear derailleurs? I keep destroying the cages on my rear derailleur. Originally my bike came with a 12 speed SRAM NX Eagle and I managed to bend the derailleur regularly enough that when it was time to upgrade I fitted a 12 speed Shimano SLX with fond memories of the indestructible SLX on my old Giant. 5 rides later my derailleur was mangled beyond recognition once again... The problem appears to be 2 fold, firstly in an effort to reduce weight the derailleur cages have become extremely fragile and with the big cogs on modern cassettes the cages have become very long and thus close to the ground. I have been looking at the robust cage (98mm) on an old 10 speed SLX derailleur and considering either a “cage transplant” or converting my bike back to 10 speed so as to be able to use the old “bulletproof “ derailleur. Has anyone else had this issue and come up with a work around? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Regards

12 speed on a EMtb ? you must have match sticks for legs.
12 speeds have super long cages and are prone to damage as they hang low. Try changing to 8 speed with a much shorter cage and get the bonus of a stronger chain ect ?‍

 

[penguinni]

I really don't know how I managed to do this...very gentle entrance to a very slightly rocky start of a trail. Ripped the mech off which wrapped around chain stay. Took a fair bit of effort to unravel it. First time in 20+ years Ive damaged a rear mech.

 

[FrankBouwer]

12 speed on a EMtb ? you must have match sticks for legs.
12 speeds have super long cages and are prone to damage as they hang low. Try changing to 8 speed with a much shorter cage and get the bonus of a stronger chain ect ?‍

I’m thinking that is the way to go, smaller cassette with shorter cage... A big incentive is that I already have a 10 speed shifter and derailleur so all that’s needed is a cassette and chain.

 

[outerlimits]

I’m thinking that is the way to go, smaller cassette with shorter cage... A big incentive is that I already have a 10 speed shifter and derailleur so all that’s needed is a cassette and chain.

It’s a no brainer then... 10 speed stuff is relatively cheap compared to 12 speed, so a cassette and chain should be on your shopping list.

 

[cole_inman]

I’ve ripped 3 Shimano 12 speed derailleurs off in the past 6 months. 2 on my eeb 1 one my analog. Previously on 11 speed I never even bent a derailleur or thought twice about it. I think the cage for these 50+T cogs is just too long. We’ve gone over the limit. It sucks because I love mullet bikes but that makes your derailleur even more vulnerable. I think eventually free ride and enduro bikes will go back to short cage 11 speed to mimic small derailleurs on DH bikes. Enduro, free ride, ebikes, they all don’t need that huge top end from the 10T cog for pedaling going 20+ mph on road. It blows my mind how little I use that gear but suffer so much anxiety around my long ass derailleur for it. If I break another derailleur (during a huge shimano parts shortage, at that) I’m going back to 11-46T cassette 32T chainring (on the eeb) 11 speed and never thinking about my derailleur again.