Whatever happened to derailleur protectors?

Some bikes in the 90s had them I remember.

Considering how expensive some rear mechs are, like the one in the pic, they should make a comeback to protect you from expensive damage.
Thoughts?

I bet that you think these are a great thing as well! 😆

Do they actually work? I’ve seen them bent. It also doesn’t really do much for anything picked up below either.

Considering how expensive some rear mechs are

Given that the key differentiator (now that even v-cheap mechs shift very well) of expensive mechs seems to be weight….. adding all that extra material to protect an expensive mech seems to rather defeat the point of buying a posh one to begin with.

Lapierre do them innit.

Having smashed off a few fairly new ones, they do seem kind of like a good plan….Bit like mudguards…. 😉

Makes a sacrificial mech hanger redundant – nice way of bending your frame.

I have one of these somewhere unused, seem to recall it’s branded On-One though

Not really sure why I bought it TBH

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acor-Axle-Fitting-Derailleur-Protector/dp/B001EGL7JM

A boxed product weight of 3kg?! Blimey!

When this happened a long way from the top of Bormio 3000 …

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P1190297[/url] by Andrea & Rick[/url], on Flickr[/img]

The hanger failed as per design…

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P1190305[/url] by Andrea & Rick[/url], on Flickr[/img]

The mech was absolutely fine and tucked up behind the seat stay. . Replaced the hanger (always carry one, plus a universal as friends dont and it saves a walk).

I used to have an M-Part protector (like that one up there ^^^^), but stopped using it as it seemed a solution for a problem that wasn’t there, plus a new mech if trashed to that extent is easier to source and cheaper than a new rear triangle

I had one of the on one ones iirc they were for steel frames without replaceable mech hangers to stop you damaging your frame. Hanger banger was it ??

Is the issue not generally that the cage at the bottom of the mech catches on stuff, which an old style protector won’t prevent.
Plus they tend to weigh about three times as much as a modern mech, negating the weight advantages, and impart all the impact loads directly to the rear axle…

Those old steel “protectors” were more to prevent Nine year olds from dropping their cast iron BSO on it’s 5 speed Tourney mech outside the newsagents, Circa 1988, when they went in to buy Opel fruits, Marathon’s and flying saucers…

What cookeea said about kids dropping the bike on the side.

I have one of these on my Liteville;

Shadow mechs happened 🙂

My Zesty has one on, and considering the amount of chunks knocked out of it, it must be doing something!

I have one of those on my Zesty. It’s useful for hiding my SLX mech under. 😕

They don’t look cool and folk get convinced by crap like they’ll bend your frame…