Bicycle Mechanics - Rear Derailleur stuck in the spoke

Hey everyone,
My brother was riding his bike when he changed the gear all of a sudden rear deraiilleur got stuck in one of the spokes of the tire. I am a noob when it comes to fixing bikes. Infact i dont even ride them. I really want to fix it for my brother by myself before taking it to a repair shop. What is the easiest way to take it out of the spoke? Looking forward to replies. thx

Here are the pics:

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/692/img3663v.jpg
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/5576/img3661a.jpg
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/3423/img3660l.jpg
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/9489/img3659n.jpg
http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/5093/img3657q.jpg

Something is bent or broken, probably the mech hanger, although with no photo of this area, this can not be confirmed.

If it is the mech hanger, if you don't have a tool like a Park DAG-2 you may struggle to get the correct alignment for the hanger.

The derailluer may have also been broken by the spoke interaction, and that chain could do with some lube, are there any stiff links in it which caused this?

You will get more answers posting this sort of question in the Bicycle Mechanics forum, rather than the Road Cycling one.

First of all... there is a mech forum... but second... just undo the bolt that holds the pulley. It will come free.

Turn the wheel backwards and it should pop out. Then you need to find out WHY it went into the spokes. 3 common reasons.

1) Derailleur hanger (Part of frame the derailleur is attached to) is bent
2) Derailleur is bent
3) Low Limit screw is allowing the Derailleur to move too far and into the spokes.

And the spoke the derailleur is caught on almost certainly will need to be replaced. Any nicks in it will turn into stress risers and the spoke will break relatively quickly.

Just for what it is worth. I had almost the same thing happen to me 2 weeks ago. In my case one of the sideplates on my chain broke and it threw the derailler into the back wheel. I had to remove the derailler to walk the bike home. I would bet that the problem on your brother's bike was caused by the chain.

The derailler was bent, and the derailler hanger was bent. I replaced the chain and got the derailler and derailler hanger straight enough to function. My replacemnet derailler should be at the house tonight.

Turn the wheel backwards and it should pop out. Then you need to find out WHY it went into the spokes. 3 common reasons.

1) Derailleur hanger (Part of frame the derailleur is attached to) is bent
2) Derailleur is bent
3) Low Limit screw is allowing the Derailleur to move too far and into the spokes.


I'm going to go with #3 as it looks like the low limit screw is actually missing. If screws are falling out and things are a bit rusted then go ahead and take it by the shop. Its a lot cheaper than dental work and you'll need another screw at the very least. If you have already remove the derailleur make sure they take a close look at the spokes as there is bit of bend going on there too.

Something is bent or broken, probably the mech hanger, although with no photo of this area, this can not be confirmed.

If it is the mech hanger, if you don't have a tool like a Park DAG-2 you may struggle to get the correct alignment for the hanger.

The derailluer may have also been broken by the spoke interaction, and that chain could do with some lube, are there any stiff links in it which caused this?

You will get more answers posting this sort of question in the Bicycle Mechanics forum, rather than the Road Cycling one.

Is this the derailler hanger (See yellow arrow):
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/374/78012756.jpg

that u said i have to check for if its bent or broken?

Well tbh i just bought this bicycle from garage sale. After two days of riding it. It started to run stiff like i would ride it for 5 seconds and it wouldnt go forward at all seems like something was stuck somewhere so i checked if it was the brakes being too close to the tire - that wasnt the case so i tried changing the gear and all of a sudden this happened - derailler got stuck.
Yes i will lube the chain.

Sorry i am new here. I would appreciate if someone can move this thread to mechanics forum. thx

Yes, that is the hanger. On most better quality bikes, the hanger is actually part of the frame. In your case, the frame doesn't have a hanger, so your derailleur has what's called a "claw"

By the way, your wheels should be loosened then pulled further back into the frame dropout. Looks like it's about to fall out.


I'm going to go with #3 as it looks like the low limit screw is actually missing. If screws are falling out and things are a bit rusted then go ahead and take it by the shop. Its a lot cheaper than dental work and you'll need another screw at the very least. If you have already remove the derailleur make sure they take a close look at the spokes as there is bit of bend going on there too.

Good eye.

First of all... there is a mech forum... but second... just undo the bolt that holds the pulley. It will come free.

do u think u can circle on the picture that i posted where i have to open the bolt? thx

Turn the wheel backwards and it should pop out. Then you need to find out WHY it went into the spokes. 3 common reasons.

1) Derailleur hanger (Part of frame the derailleur is attached to) is bent
2) Derailleur is bent
3) Low Limit screw is allowing the Derailleur to move too far and into the spokes.

i think it got stuck because my brother changed the gears to the lowest all of a sudden because the bike was running stiff like it wouldnt go forward at all.

And the spoke the derailleur is caught on almost certainly will need to be replaced. Any nicks in it will turn into stress risers and the spoke will break relatively quickly.

I can certainly look into that once i get it out of the spoke. Also would it make any difference if i have one missing spoke on my wheel?

do u think u can circle on the picture that i posted where i have to open the bolt? thx

The lower pulley wheel of the derailleur that the chain runs along. My guess is it will just come out if you carefully move the wheel backwards and pull a bit with your fingers. No need to take things apart (probably).

I can certainly look into that once i get it out of the spoke. Also would it make any difference if i have one missing spoke on my wheel?

You need all the spokes to keep the rim straight. I bet the spoke is ok. Doesn't look like much damage occured.
Go to a shop to get the low limit screw fixed, derailleur adjusted, and ask them to look at the spoke.


Sorry i am new here. I would appreciate if someone can move this thread to mechanics forum. thx
You can click the little triangle/exclamation mark to send a note to a moderator and ask them.

Turning the wheel backwards should free the spoke from the jockey wheel and I would do this gently as if it does not release easily you will need to remove the jockey wheel which should require an 8mm wrench.

If that goes smoothly then it is time to go over the bike and discover why this happened.

The position of the derailleur indicates that the bike is also running a chain that is far too short and that the derailleur pivot and spring may be toast... it is a very low end Shimano so rather than look for a set screw, I would just replace it with something better. Your derailleur uses a claw to attach it to the bike so you may need to get an adaptor claw for a newer rear D.

If you have a local bike co-op or shop that carries a decent selection of used parts they should be able to hook you up for very little $ and be able to show you how to service other things and fit a new chain.

I'm going to go with #3 as it looks like the low limit screw is actually missing. If screws are falling out and things are a bit rusted then go ahead and take it by the shop. Its a lot cheaper than dental work and you'll need another screw at the very least. If you have already remove the derailleur make sure they take a close look at the spokes as there is bit of bend going on there too.

can u please point out where the low limit screw is in the picture. Thing is i only bought this bike for $20 and i dont want to spend lot of money on it so am trying to do it all bymyself as much as i can. thx for ur reply. No i havent removed the derailleur yet

can u please point out where the low limit screw is in the picture. Thing is i only bought this bike for $20 and i dont want to spend lot of money on it so am trying to do it all bymyself as much as i can. thx for ur reply. No i havent removed the derailleur yet

Look at the upper left of your picture where there is one screw and a hole where a screw is supposed to be.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/9489/img3659n.jpg

Yes, that is the hanger. On most better quality bikes, the hanger is actually part of the frame. In your case, the frame doesn't have a hanger, so your derailleur has what's called a "claw"

By the way, your wheels should be loosed then pulled further back into the frame dropout. Looks like it's about to fall out.



Good eye.

@Bold Not sure what u mean by that?

Is this the derailler hanger (See yellow arrow):
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/374/78012756.jpg

that u said i have to check for if its bent or broken?

Well tbh i just bought this bicycle from garage sale. After two days of riding it. It started to run stiff like i would ride it for 5 seconds and it wouldnt go forward at all seems like something was stuck somewhere so i checked if it was the brakes being too close to the tire - that wasnt the case so i tried changing the gear and all of a sudden this happened - derailler got stuck.
Yes i will lube the chain.

Sorry i am new here. I would appreciate if someone can move this thread to mechanics forum. thx

Your wheel also needs to be backed into the drop out completely... it is too far forward.

can u please point out where the low limit screw is in the picture. Thing is i only bought this bike for $20 and i dont want to spend lot of money on it so am trying to do it all bymyself as much as i can. thx for ur reply. No i havent removed the derailleur yet

In the 4th picture in your first post, you can see a little phillips head screw. Just above that is a hole where another screw should be. There are supposed to be 2 limit screws: "high" and "low". One controls how far outward (away from spokes to the high gear) the derailleur can go. The other controls how far inward (towards the spokes, or low gear) it can go.

Here's a good repair site: http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

You guys have this one covered... am going to step off as even if we are saying the same thing it could get confusing and I have a shop full of work here.

Have to appreciate the excellent photos from the OP... most people have no idea how much this helps to diagnose things by remote.

@Bold Not sure what u mean by that?

Just above your yellow arrow, you can see the slot next to the axle nut. The axle should be pulled back into that slot so it's not visible.

As SixtyFiver mentioned, your chain is too short. So when you are on the big chainring on the crank, there will not be enough chain to also go into the big sprockets on the back wheel.

I have been too many forums before whenever i have some technical problem such as computers etc. But i have never received this good of a response. I really appreciate all of u who replied so fast and were very helpful. Tbh i am a kinda of a person who always likes to fix things first on my own before going to a shop and give them my hard earned money. Because of all ur help i was able to get the derailleur out of the spoke by just pedalling the wheel backwards. Now the other problem still remains which is whenever i ride a bike it rides fine for a couple of seconds and then it starts to make this noise that something is stuck or jammed and i have to paddle very hard and eventually i am not able to pedal anymore. Then when i fully stop and start to pedal again it works fine for few seconds and same thing happens. I am pretty sure noise is coming from the back wheel. When i am off the bike and just spinning the pedal with my hand , back wheel moves fine. So this problem is happening when i am riding the bike.Also I am not sure if the back brake suppose to be that close to the back wheel? May be its the brake? See the pic below.

Heres the brake on my back wheel
This one is not too close to the wheel: http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/5725/img3687x.jpg

This one is almost touching the wheel:
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/2637/img3686g.jpg


I also think derailleur is too close to the wheel as i am missing low limit screw
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/1724/img3683vz.jpg
Heres the sound that i hear when riding my bike:
http://snd.sc/Lp47Lb


(http://snd.sc/Lp47Lb)

Just above your yellow arrow, you can see the slot next to the axle nut. The axle should be pulled back into that slot so it's not visible.

As SixtyFiver mentioned, your chain is too short. So when you are on the big chainring on the crank, there will not be enough chain to also go into the big sprockets on the back wheel.

I tried to hammer the axle nut inside but it wasnt moving so i took it out and as u can see its impossible to move it inside:
http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/7544/img3690x.jpg

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/9475/img3693kt.jpg

Your rear derailleur is bent pretty bad. needs to be straightened out. You can easily tell in the picture that shows it from behind. the derailleur cage (the part with the 2 small wheels that the chain runs around) should be perfectly in line with the gears above it, not slanted towards the wheel like it is currently. Happens when people drop their bikes on the ground on that side.

You need to loosen the nut on both sides of the wheel, not just the one side before it will move.

Your rear derailleur is bent pretty bad. needs to be straightened out. You can easily tell in the picture that shows it from behind. the derailleur cage (the part with the 2 small wheels that the chain runs around) should be perfectly in line with the gears above it, not slanted towards the wheel like it is currently. Happens when people drop their bikes on the ground on that side.

You need to loosen the nut on both sides of the wheel, not just the one side before it will move.

@bold i did as u said. Heres how it looks now:
http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/5628/img1062f.jpg

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/1320/img1056td.jpg

Good news:

I played with the brakes a bit (both front and rear) by watching this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg6s596PPRY
That noise is gone and i can ride my bike without any problem. However strangely when i flip the bike upside down and spin the back wheel it clearly doesnt rotate all the way as the brake is too close to the rim. So if someone can guide how i can get that brake to move away from the rim would be really helpful eventhough when i ride my bike it gives me no problem.

Heres the brake that is too close to the wheel rim:
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/2637/img3686g.jpg

These are all the screws i have around the brake:
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/2492/img1065mg.jpg
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/9369/img1064f.jpg
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/9408/img1067d.jpg

A few other suggestions. In the picture in post #25, the hanger is partially blocking the drop-out (the slot where the axle is). What last poster meant was to loosen the nuts on both sides of the axle. What you need to do now is loosen the silver screw and both axle nuts and push the axle as far left (or back) as it will go without moving the hanger which you now have too far forward. Fortunately your brother was not peddling fast when this happened. I'm guessing all you will need to do it pull the derailleur out of the spokes, straighten the derailleur hanger and find an adjustment screw (4mm x 10mm long); if your LBS can't come up with one I'll mail one to you. If you look at the bottom picture in post #23 you'll see the derailleur is bent in toward the wheel (some of it is simply the derailleur being held in by the spoke). Once you pull the derailleur out, check the alignment. Don't use the angle of the spokes to gauge the alignment of the spokes as they slant outward from the hub. The derailleur should line up with the cogs on the hub. Gauge the derailleur hanger by lining it up with the large cog looking from behind and from the top.

Once this is done you will have to look into a new chain.

A few other suggestions. In the picture in post #25, the hanger is partially blocking the drop-out (the slot where the axle is). What last poster meant was to loosen the nuts on both sides of the axle. What you need to do now is loosen the silver screw and both axle nuts and push the axle as far left (or back) as it will go without moving the hanger which you now have too far forward. Fortunately your brother was not peddling fast when this happened. I'm guessing all you will need to do it pull the derailleur out of the spokes, straighten the derailleur hanger and find an adjustment screw (4mm x 10mm long); if your LBS can't come up with one I'll mail one to you. If you look at the bottom picture in post #23 you'll see the derailleur is bent in toward the wheel (some of it is simply the derailleur being held in by the spoke). Once you pull the derailleur out, check the alignment. Don't use the angle of the spokes to gauge the alignment of the spokes as they slant outward from the hub. The derailleur should line up with the cogs on the hub. Gauge the derailleur hanger by lining it up with the large cog looking from behind and from the top.

Once this is don't you will have to look into a new chain.

So this is how i have my derailleur hanger right now: http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/5628/img1062f.jpg. so ur saying its not correct how i pushed it all the way forward? I dont understand how to do it correctly and how it will make any difference? If u can elaborate more please?

Also if u read my previouse posts. I was able to take out the derailleur out of the spoke easily by moving the wheel backwards. By screw u mean the low limit screw that i am missing? What is LBS?

So this is how i have my derailleur hanger right now: http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/5628/img1062f.jpg. so ur saying its not correct how i pushed it all the way forward? I dont understand how to do it correctly and how it will make any difference? If u can elaborate more please?You need to simply push the axle and hanger the other way to the back of the dropout. The reason is the derailleur will be more secure and if I'm not mistaken the bolt on hanger is design to rest against the back of the dropout; in its current configuration it appears axle is so far forward that the axle nut is hanging over the lower end of the dropout.


Also if u read my previouse posts. I was able to take out the derailleur out of the spoke easily by moving the wheel backwards. By screw u mean the low limit screw that i am missing? What is LBS?Yes I mean the limit screw. Also the adjustment for your brakes does not affect one side, it is designed to center the brake, so more gap on one side will result in less gap on the other. In order to center the brake, look at your photos of the brake arms and you will see a screw just above the pivot on each arm. This screw pushes against the tension spring. If you tighten the screw it will move the arm/brake pad away from the rim on the side you are tightening and closer on the other side. Sometimes it is better to try loosening the screw on the side that with the bigger gap rather than tighten the other side. Also before you adjust the brake, make sure the wheel is centered. This done by loosening the axle nuts and making sure the wheel is equal distance from the lower frame supports that go from the axle dropouts to the crank shell (they are called chain stays). An LBS is a Local Bike Store; sorry about that

Just for what it is worth. I had almost the same thing happen to me 2 weeks ago. In my case one of the sideplates on my chain broke and it threw the derailleur into the back wheel. I had to remove the derailleur to walk the bike home. I would bet that the problem on your brother's bike was caused by the chain.

The derailleur was bent, and the derailleur hanger was bent. I replaced the chain and got the derailleur and derailleur hanger straight enough to function. My replacement derailleur should be at the house tonight.

Looking at the rust on his chain I think that that is a safe bet.

Your best bet would be to see if there is a bike co-op in your area. Bike co-ops (aka community bike workshops) are organizations that reclaim bicycles as well as helping people obtain and maintain their bikes. Usually there are tools and workspace available for a nominal fee or in exchange for volunteer hours. Used parts are also available for little or nothing. The best part is that they are run by bicycle enthusiasts who will help you learn all about how to service and repair a bicycle.

From your posts, I'm thinking you will struggle trying to put such a well-used bike back into safe and reliable condition on your own and likely lack some of the bike specific tools you will need. If you can't find a bike co-op, look for bike clubs in your area, or find one of those retired guys who like to fix up bikes as a hobby.