Anyone unbent a mech hanger?

I’m going to give it a go later, how likely am I to:

a) not just break it in two; and
b) get it straight?

On another note, as a replacement mech hanger is £20 + postage of £6, on balance I’d rather the mech had just taken the hit as at least I would be happier paying to replace it!

I’m assuming this is an alloy replaceable hanger?

If so, my money is on it snapping.

Yes correct – alloy replaceable.

Your LBS will have a fancy bend-it-back tool but its still a good chance it’l snap.

In my experience the black painted ones are waaay more brittle than the nude silver ones.

What hanger is it, they are usually only a tenner

You can unbend alloy ones but order another for when it snaps midride. If its twisted rather than just bent bin it.

It’s a silver one, and it’s one of these. If it breaks I won’t have lost out as I’m going to have to replace it anyway, but as mentioned I’m not quite sure the economics work if the replaceable mech hanger costs almost as much as a new (105) mech!

Just get another.
Even if you do manage to bend it back to something like it will probably still be out by just enough to make the gears a complete pain to get anything like acceptable.
I’ve tried this before and what I thought was a straight hanger was ever so slightly out and swapping for a new one cured all my gear changing issues.
Keep the bent one as a spare to get you out of trouble if you need it.

Last one I did I did in a vice without issue, was a black ‘brittle’ one.

alanf – Member
it will probably still be out by just enough to make the gears a complete pain to get anything like acceptable.

That was my assumption too, to be honest.

You’re probably best off asking in the bike forum. Let me move that for you.

The economics of a replaceable hanger are that it saves the frame not the mech!

It’s perfectly possible to lunch both the mech and hanger in the impact.

Cougar – interesting one and thanks – I’m never show how bikey a thread has to be to go in the bike forum. It’s quite a nuanced distinction at times.

TP – yes, fair point!

Indeed, it’s quite rare for a hanger to break and a mech to survive!

Have you tried these guys: http://gearmechhanger.com/epages/950001649.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/950001649/Categories

stevie, I have now – ta 🙂 not on their list but the question has been asked.

Yup a few times. Bend it back using the mech. No problems

Yes, at the trailside, by the highly technical method of putting it on a flat rock and hitting another rock into it repeatedly until it looked straight.

It worked.

I did order a replacement, but it never arrived and I must have got lucky because the gears worked fine and the hanger didn’t snap in the six months that I kept the bike after that.

No I didn’t sell a bike on with a dodgy hanger, it was nicked.

Happy2015 for 20% til end of Jan at gearmechhanger too 🙂

have bent the same one back twice. in a vice, using a large adjustable. most people’s eyes can resolve if something is straight or not remarkably well.

Yep, it lasted until was about as far from the car as it was practically possible to get before it snapped.

Proud owner a spare mech hanger 🙄

i have one of these:

http://www.parktool.com/product/derailleur-hanger-alignment-gauge-dag-2

used it loads of times on my current hanger and its still going strong. It works well as long as its not bent too far out of shape..

Yep bent one back the other month….but also now carry the spare in my pack just in case 😆

depends how much its bent if you have a suitable wheel screw it in the mech hanger thread whilst it is still on the bike then u can use the wheel like a gauge/to bend it true i have done this and it cured iffy indexing

for 15 quid, i wouldn’t bother take a chance, it’ll snap sooner rather than later.

MC made me one for my hemlock, I straightened it a bunch of times before it snapped, sometimes by a load, tough as old boots. Not as tough as the XT rear mech it’s attached to, which seems to be impervious to all harm

It depends on how much you want to straighten though- if they’re massively bent, it’s probably going to snap. But mech hangers pick up little bends often ime (I always check them when I’m working on a bike, and they’re bent as often as not). A little tweak does no harm.

Put a bit of soap on it. Heat it up till the soap turns black, this is the workable temp for aluminium alloy. Straighten. Let cool. Use.
This is what an engineer bloke told me. I couldn’t be arsed with the faff and got a new one. I also straightened one in a vice.

I bent the mech hanger first day out when my bike was new in 2008. I bent it back in situ at the time and it has been fine for the subsequent 7 years of regular use…