ToiletSiphon

I know the rear derailleur hanger is supposed to be made in order to break without damaging the frame. But I've read so many stories of a broken hanger sending the derailleur in the stays and breaking them that I'm starting to wonder if something could be done to protect the frame in case something like this occurs. Besides wrapping everything in neoprene, is there a way to avoid this potential issue ?

Jon T

Don't ride your bike. Problem solved.
Jon

JohnDThompson 

Keep your derailleur adjusted so it doesn't land in the spokes.

Crankycrank

This. Just basic maintenance. In 50 years I've never had a derailleur get caught in the spokes enough to break off or mangle up anything. It can happen but rare. Slightly more common than getting a squirrel caught in your wheel.

JohnDThompson 

Use a proper 36 spoke wheel and that won't happen, either.

Hoopdriver

My immediate thought as well. Squirrels always make me nervous.

To the OP: Usually the hanger (or mech) gets broken because it hits the spokes. Is this what you are worried about? Or to you ride gonzo through trails with a lot of obstacles? If this is the case, there are may types of guards that will prevent the derailleur from impacts.

Good luck.

chorlton

Good idea. How would it cope with a thin Kamikaze Squirrel?

Ignoring the squirrel that looks particularly brutal in as much as the forks fractured and the spokes survived. Perhaps you should consider fitting aero spokes and take a knife sharpener to them.

Good idea but rather than wrapping the bike in neoprene wear a wet suit instead of day-glo lycra.

Otherwise, as others have suggested, make sure your limit screws prevent you from pulling the dérailleur into the spokes. Unfortunately it is always going to be a possibility that some other external influence is going to knock it into the wrong place.

Massive Dork Disc?

AnkleWork

This whole thread is based on a false premise: that hanger breakage causing frame damage is a frequent event. "But I've read so many stories of a broken hanger sending the derailleur in the stays and breaking them . . ." I doubt the OP can verify that. No need to invent a phobia.

BTW, padding would not reduce the forces. If you're really scared, get a steel hanger fabricated. Then you'll have a rational fear of wrecking and injury from a collapsed wheel. The most rational thing to do is to just add a dork disk and ride [and you don't want that].

Jon T

An old school steel fork wouldn't have broken either. Some things just can't be improved upon.
Jon

fietsbob

Ride Steel Frames.

woodcraft

It's a good question.

Not rare, not just operator error.

I've twice had stick in the chain/RD (CX bike, off-road), once bending, once breaking the hanger. Alu. frame, so only cosmetic damage there.

Also a minor road crash (my fault) damaged the hanger of friend's CF bike as he rode over me.

The hanger snapped shortly after, sending the RD around and into the seat stay, cracking it.


Taping something to the rear of the seat stay like a chopstick or plastic tube would probably work.

chorlton

Ride Lugged Steel Frames.

FTFY

JohnDThompson 

I had a frog jump into my 36-spoke front wheel once. It spun around inside the spokes for a couple wheel revolutions and then was flung out against my leg. Seemed relatively undamaged, though; I saw it hopping away after it landed.

CliffordK

The bigger issue I've seen reported is a derailleur hanger not breaking cleanly and taking a piece of frame dropout with it. These would be an engineering issue. Or perhaps clone hangers not performing like the originals.

One can often prevent damage by stopping pedaling with chainsuck or stopping quickly if a problem arises.

Vintage_Cyclist

If it's that much of a concern ride a fixie.