Originally Posted by
lexmark
ya... i got stolen and the jerk that took it just droped the bike/derailer right on the cement... that was probably the reason but do you think i could align it myself by just bending it the other way?
How many cogs do you have on the back?
If the answer is 6 or 7, I'd eyeball it back into line. You want the derailleur arm to point straight down when the bike's vertical.
If you have 8, 9 or 10 cogs on the back, they're progressively more picky about the alignment being spot-on. I'd take it to a shop for a proper alignment with a gauge.
I wouldn't worry about tweaking back the small amount it sounds like yours is out of alignment aluminum or not.