Mountain Biking - Tragedy on the trail! (Time for a new rear derailleur) 4 pics

Okay, so here is how it went down. Near the end of a pretty epic ride (30 miles) I cut off on some techy singletrack that a friend had made a week before. Coming through one of the switchbacks, I heard a noise in the area of my rear hub, and then my bike stopped dead, as suddenly as if a metal pipe had been jammed in my spokes. At first I thought it was just a stick, but then I noticed my rear derailleur. It was in the shape that you can see below (if the pictures work). This was about a 20 minute walk from the end of the ride.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b18/maxx4life/IMG_0004.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b18/maxx4life/IMG_0005.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b18/maxx4life/IMG_0006.jpg
This was all that I could find on the ground.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b18/maxx4life/IMG_0008.jpg
I have no idea how this happened. I wasn't putting abnormal force into the cranks, there were no sticks in the wheel or derailleur, nothing. So now, I have to go out and get a new derailleur. Unfortunatly, I'm 15, so I cannot exactly spring for a new XTR derailleur to replace my ravaged one.

So, here is my predicament. I cannot get a new XTR, so I was looking at XT or LX. I would love to get a sram X.9, but I just got some rocket trigger shifters, so they wouldn't work together, and I cant get new shifters too. So, is XT really worth it? I can get a new XT for about 60 bucks, or a new LX for about 45. I might be able to get a better deal from my LBS, but probably not. The above prices are from pricepoint. So, should I spring for the XT? My riding buddy thinks I should do it, because it is rare that I damage anything, much less my rear derailleur. Also, there are different versions of the XT and LX. Which should I get? I think that one of each is for rapid rise, so I dont want those. But I dont know which is which.

The names are as follows.
Shimano LX Mega-9 M570 SGS
Shimano LX M580 SGS
Shimano XT Mega-9 M750 SGS
Shimano XT M760 SGS

Which should I get? Please help a confused kid out here.

peace
harris

Looks like you need a new derailleur hanger to replace the one that looks pretty bent up. You may also need a new spoke or two if the derailleur gouged them up.

Looks like you need a new derailleur hanger to replace the one that looks pretty bent up. You may also need a new spoke or two if the derailleur gouged them up.
Yea, I thought about the spokes. None of them are bent at all, or lose. Wheel is still perfectly straight. The hanger is beyond repair, I'm afraid, but they are only 10$ or so. But who knows, It may be able to be bent back. My LBS has a super cool tool that is made just for bending them back.

peace
harris

not to bad mouth you but. dude sit down with that bike, and give it a nice cleaning.

I could fix that,a little duct tape,a twist ties from a loaf of bread and your back in buisness.

Your forgetting the paste that was used in kindegarten as well.

not to bad mouth you but. dude sit down with that bike, and give it a nice cleaning.
Really? I dont think that I noticed while I was down there examining it and documenting the destruction. I hosed it off after the ride, but it still needs more. The hubs are really the only part that still look dirty. I cleaned pretty much everything else off pretty good. There were some pretty good stretches today where it was all clay, but in a mud format. And puddles that were the type that look like mud when they splash up on you.

peace
harris

Jensonusa.com has xt derailers for $39. Get one of thouse.

not to bad mouth you but. dude sit down with that bike, and give it a nice cleaning.
why? what's wrong with dirty bikes? mine hasn't been cleaned in probably months.

whats wrong with dirty bikes? during the heat of the spring through fall season i usually clean my bike thoroughly twice and keep everything that needs lubing, lubed regularly. I don;t have problems, you just get a dirty bike that works as well as a clean one. I don't have OCD. If you like i can carry a rag with me a wipe it down after every muddy spot on the trail. Man i'd rather ride than clean

whats wrong with dirty bikes? during the heat of the spring through fall season i usually clean my bike thoroughly twice and keep everything that needs lubing, lubed regularly. I don;t have problems, you just get a dirty bike that works as well as a clean one. I don't have OCD. If you like i can carry a rag with me a wipe it down after every muddy spot on the trail. Man i'd rather ride than clean

No kidding- as it rains every day around here, I would spend more time cleaning my bike than riding...

might be a little ocd. i like to keep my cassette, chain, and chainrings nice and clean. i clean them after most rides.

i dont like my stuff being dirty. it can get as dirty as it wants on the trail, once it is back at my house it gets cleaned though.

might be a little ocd. i like to keep my cassette, chain, and chainrings nice and clean. i clean them after most rides.

i dont like my stuff being dirty. it can get as dirty as it wants on the trail, once it is back at my house it gets cleaned though.


Me too...

I don't mind going four or five rides during the dry summer months, but come winter, with all it's rain/snow, I've got to clean the gunk out and off.

I also like to check all the bolts, relube the chain, spray a lil' teflon on the shocks/stanchions...never hurts

I clean away anything that could make something not work as well, but mud on the downtube doesn't really bother me. Makes the bike look more manly. I lube my chain before every ride, however, and after the muddy ones I hose off all moving parts and lube what needs it.

I got a deal with my local bike shop, getting a brand spankin new xt, grunge guard, hanger, etc for about $70. Better than if I ordered online and then got it installed. And way less than if I tried to install it on my own. I'm not that comfortable fixing my bike. I can tune it, but this is a little bit more shady of an operation. I think the derailleur is an 06 model. It has the new swoopy cage design and new body design. I'll post a pic of it when I get it, and one of the whole bike for all of you uneducated fools who don't know what a 29er is like.

peace
harris

I want to know why breaking a deraillieur is a tragedy, conert that thing to a singlespeed.

I want to know why breaking a deraillieur is a tragedy, conert that thing to a singlespeed.
What is conert?
It is a tradgedy because it is an expensive derailleur and I am fifteen. I don't have enough money to fix it. That is why. Also it just sorta rhymed. I thought it sounded cool. :rolleyes:


peace
harris

My brother loves to clean his bike after every ride. I recently took apart his headset and found it full of rust and dirt. Cleaning is fine, but remember if you get crazy with a water hose your probably doing more harm then good.

The mega 9 is rapid rise, At least mine are.

Ouch, did the same thing last year. Broke a spoke and it sucked the derailleur almost completely around the hub. Bent the hanger too.
Never liked the wheels anyway, so got some new rims & spokes and with a little help, built my own.

Well I'm glad to read it's just a broken derailleur. When I think of tragedy on the trail I generally think of death or someone stuck in a hospital long term.

Huh, yea, I agree with you on that one. Five minutes into the ride one of our guys snapped his chain that he had bought the day before, and broke his finger in two places. At least it was only five minutes into the ride, so it was a short walk downhill back to a car.


peace
harris