Aside from obvious play in the parallelogram, what are some other tell-tale visual signs of worn pivots? Aside from having some shifting problems recently, another reason I suspect worn pivots in one of my RDs is that the cage (long cage) angles outward, away from the wheel. I don't think it is bent, and when I apply pressure to the cage, there is enough play that it can become straight, until I let go. I bolted on another derailleur to compare, and the dropout hanger is perfectly straight. The cage on that one has no lateral play. So is the RD in question shot? What would happen if I tried to "compensate" for the worn pivots by bending the cage slightly inward to make it vertical again? Would that improve the shifting?

aw, c'mon! someone here's got to have some insight on this?

We're all ignoring you, Anton.

Honestly, I really have no insight. But, I've bent RDs with success.

Hi southpawboston -
I'm not sure if you are saying there is or there isn't obvious play in the pivots:

If there isn't, then I would think a bent cage or hanger is the culprit after all . Your experiment installing another DR tends to rule out the hanger, so I would just bend the cage.

If there IS (play in the pivots), then I'd get a new DR.

It sounds like a good possibility from your description. I have no direct experience with this but I would expect something like you described.

yep, there *is* play in the pivots, and i can straighten the cage by just taking up the free play of the pivots.