Originally Posted by JunkYardBike
One concern I have is the positioning of the rear derailleur. The cage appears to run parallel to the wheel spokes rather than parallel to the rear cogs - dangerously close to the spokes (see pic below). Is this normal on this model (Kurt has identified it as a 990)? Or is there an adjustment to make? There was no performance loss - even with the chain and jockey wheels all gummed up, it was shifting very crisply. It doesn't appear the hanger is bent.
The seller did a horrible job of packaging the bike. The wheel axle ends tore large holes in each side of the box, so I am wondering if the derailleur was bent in some way. I'll give him credit for turn around time, as he shipped it merely hours after I had paid. But I thought the thing had been pre-packaged...
The derailer is bent. Note that the cage is not vertically parallel to the derailer hanger and top portion of the derailer itself.
I'd suggest replacing it. 990s are cheap (unless you find some idiot on eBay listing it as "Gran Nuovo Victory Record-C Sport," in which case you are SOL, thanks to bidders who know nothing and drive the price up believing it is something else), and easy enough to come by now and then.
Take care,
-Kurt