Mountain Biking - What kind of metal is used in a derailleur hanger?

What type of aluminum is used for derailleur hangers? Its finally second semester so i start my engineering class, and im doing htis for 2 more years because its a career tech thing. SO i want to know first off, how hard it would be to CNC this thing and what type of aluminum is used

it varries from company to company...specialized uses a type called butter...everyone elses uses slightly stronger.

it varries from company to company...specialized uses a type called butter...everyone elses uses slightly stronger.

hahahaha... ;) I haven't had any problems with bending mine yet, but I don't really do much off-road riding so it's not too much of an issue. My friend has bent his quite a few times on his Kona and he doesn't do any off-road riding either. However, I've noticed that the hanger tends to bend pretty easily in comparison to almost everything else on the bike.

not to be a dick or anyhting, but isnt the hanger designed to bend more so than anything else? so you dont screw up your derailer....i mean, id rather pay 2$ for a new hangar than 70$ on a new derailer and maybe chain....

that is what its designed for rite?

yep, exactly... the only problem is that some bend WAYYY too easily... stuff that would never bend the derailleur or frame anyway ends up bending the hanger. I find it to be rather annoying. The only time mine got ever so slightly bent was when my cats were climbing around on my bike and knocked it over on the right side. It started having issues shifting a bit and the shop bent the hanger back a very small amount and it cleared up.

I thought it was Heavy Metal(ROCK ON). :D

thats pretty funny....my cat likes to lick my pedals sometimes..she never climbs my bike though....shes an inside cat, so she likes smelling things that go outside...when i think about it, ive never dropped my bike on that side, and when i have, my body has cushioned its fall...usually cause im still clipped in....

maybe they should make them out of a metal that bends only under pressures greater than the derailer can handle alone....i mean, we have the technology, we can build it better....hehe

Right, that's my point. It should be a bit stronger than it is, to say the least. My bike doesn't fall on that side very often but I've found that when it does, the derailleur hanger will often get tweaked a bit out of alignment.

I just want to CNC one first of all, i get graded if i do it. So i cant complain there. And if i have maybe 5 on hand i ownt have to wait a week for one to come in and pay 15 dollars.

not to be a dick or anyhting, but isnt the hanger designed to bend more so than anything else? so you dont screw up your derailer....i mean, id rather pay 2$ for a new hangar than 70$ on a new derailer and maybe chain....

that is what its designed for rite?

Where do you get a $2 hanger?

Where do you get a $2 hanger?

I was thinking the same thing. I know when I was looking into replacing my specialized hanger, the shop quoted me at around 30 bucksCDN. But of course that shop was all overpriced.

Are there any aftermarket hangers for specialized?

I was thinking the same thing. I know when I was looking into replacing my specialized hanger, the shop quoted me at around 30 bucksCDN. But of course that shop was all overpriced.

Are there any aftermarket hangers for specialized?

Or Rocky Mountain??? Mine bent enough to mess up shifting when I dropped my bike over on one side somewhat gently.

.....You not going to get a $30 hanger for my bike :D

why must manufacturers make hangers out of such soft, malleable metal? I don't see a point in it.

My non-replacable hanger has been fine for a year and half, and my deraileur is pretty mashed up. Damn XT just doesnt die though...dont know about weak Spec replacable ones though..

Yeah, I never really bent the one on my old GT Timberline cr-mo frame. It wasn't replaceable and I never had any issues with it.

why must manufacturers make hangers out of such soft, malleable metal? I don't see a point in it.
The hanger is the bike frame equivelant of a fuse. It takes the hit so the frame doesn't have to. If they made them much stronger the frame could take some energy from the hit possibly causing damage. There IS a bit of engineering behind the choices that they make

not to be a dick or anyhting, but isnt the hanger designed to bend more so than anything else? so you dont screw up your derailer....i mean, id rather pay 2$ for a new hangar than 70$ on a new derailer and maybe chain....

that is what its designed for rite?

Specialized Bighit deraileur is useless. It bent under the easiest of condtions for xc let alone what the bike was built for. Hangers are meant to be weak, but not THAT weak..

I was thinking the same thing. I know when I was looking into replacing my specialized hanger, the shop quoted me at around 30 bucksCDN. But of course that shop was all overpriced.

Are there any aftermarket hangers for specialized?

Yes but unfortunately NOT online. I found one for 30$ WITH a hanger bash gaurd and it has been awesome all the way around. There is a cnc shop making these aftemarket hangers in bc...but you would have to call john henry bikes :)

Where does the bash guard mount? And is it effective?

The hanger is the bike frame equivelant of a fuse. It takes the hit so the frame doesn't have to. If they made them much stronger the frame could take some energy from the hit possibly causing damage. There IS a bit of engineering behind the choices that they make

That's my point.... I can understand if it's meant to take the damage in a hit but I don't feel as though it should be so weak that breathing on it wrong will cause it to bend. Laying the bike down on its drive side isn't going to cause any damage to a decent derailleur but somehow it manages to tweak the hanger enough to cause slow shifting. That's ********.

That's my point.... I can understand if it's meant to take the damage in a hit but I don't feel as though it should be so weak that breathing on it wrong will cause it to bend. Laying the bike down on its drive side isn't going to cause any damage to a decent derailleur but somehow it manages to tweak the hanger enough to cause slow shifting. That's ********.
Well if you think of how much some people spend on derailleurs, look at the XTR stuff out there. If i spent that much on a derailleur i would much rather have damage to my derailleur hanger, even if it results in slow shifting or anything

I think one of the main points is that it needs to break quickly. The quicker it breaks the less damage to wheels and derailleur. That is why it is so soft. Trust me when you get a stick caught between your XTR wheelset and your XTR derailleur the last thing you are worried about is the $30 hanger.

Where does the bash guard mount? And is it effective?

Works like a charm. I believe the demo9 has one built in or comes stock. This company saw that and started making them after market. It does its job thats for sure.

I have one of the Demo guards on my SX Trail, but I haven't figured out the trick to keep the mount from rotating when I tighten the axle nut, barring holding it with a second wrench. Any insight?

Regardless, I will probably end up with a Saint mech eventually, so I won't have to worry about bending hangers after that...the Saint bolts directly to the axle.

the aftermarket ones are made to fit certain deraileurs. I know sram stack heigh is much shorter than shimano so it has room to spin.

The Giant kids models have a bash guard to protect the derailieurs from people who lay them down on the drive side......

I think most are made of 6160 al.

Is there anything or subject that doesn't have a website yet ????
http://derailleurhanger.com

Site prices seem kinda steep. I paid $15 for a spare @ my LBS ....

I have to pay $50(AUD) for a new derailleur hanger, so you guys are lucky. Stupid uncommon bikes. :(

All of mine cost that. Its only americans getting them cheap. In WA my hanger for the bighit is 7$...up here $50cdn...its cheaper for me to bus to the states and buy it then buy it at a lbs.

The Giant kids models have a bash guard to protect the derailieurs from people who lay them down on the drive side......

I remember when i had Vees i could lie my bike down on the non-drive side but now I have discs.. I try not to lie my bike down at all :D

WTF is with that, how can it be so cheap in US but expensive elsewhere. However I do think you are getting it a bit steep, I was able to get one for my bighit for about $20-$25. Now that I have an uncommon bike, my hangers cost an extra $25, this is also at the same bike store where I got the cheaper bighit hangers.

I no longger buy bighit hangers, only the aftermarket one. Cheaper, stronger than butter but still breakable.

Whistler baby. Living in a resort town costs money. :)

Yeah, it just seems like you'd get stuff cheaper because thats the whole industry there in summer, but i understand.