jimwebber

Hi all,

I had been hearing a lot of noise from the rear derailleur (a 2008 Fuji Roubaix RC). The sound is like a ticking that increases with the speed I pedal. I adjusted cable tension and checked b-tension/limit screws but couldn't get rid of the noise. Chain has less than 500 miles and cassette has about 1500 miles.

I brought the bike to my local shop and asked them to check the rear hanger. They used the park tool dag-2 and straightened the hanger a bit. Afterward, I went on a ride and while there is less noise, I'm still hearing some. I'm thinking I'll try again to adjust the rear derailleur. I might also just get another hanger. Any other thoughts?

One more thing: is it possible that my cassette/chain wore in a certain way when my hanger was bent and now the chain rides roughly?

Thanks,

Jim

Andrew R Stewart 

At the shop I work at a hanger alignment includes a der adjustment. Did the shop that did the alignment do an adjustment too?

Also many ders' mounting bolts are not machined very square with the bolt's axis. So as you turn the bolt the der orbits, like a pedal with a bent axle. So a aligned der (as opposed to a hanger, it is the der that is what counts) can sometimes require miss aligning the hanger a bit to compensate for the mounting bolt's being not square.

A slight tick once or twice every wheel revolution can indicate that the chain is just off center enough to have the shifting gate portion touch the chain. Please do give us the fix follow up. Andy.

jimwebber

Thanks for these thoughts. The shop did adjust the derailleur after straightening the hanger and remounting the rear der. I didn't think about the possibility that the mounting bolt might be bent. I'll ask them and let you know what I find.

ThermionicScott 

Maybe the problem is that you're now listening for it.

Andrew R Stewart 

Or the shop also flaked off massive amounts of built up grime from the pulley wheels and now the cleaner surfaces make more noise. Andy.

cny-bikeman

If the derailleur was bent in some sort of incident it's quite possible that the pulley cage or even derailleur body could have been twisted or bent as well. Take a close look at the plane of the pulleys as well as the path the chain takes through them. The pulley cage should be parallel to the plane that bisects the bike into right and left halves, neither tilting one way or the other nor pointing to the left or right, and the chain should not be trying to jump off the side of the pulleys.

Lazyass

Check your wheel skewer tightness.