From the "How was your commute today" thread.

And my drivetrain had been running so nicely lately!!!

In retrospect I guess I should have flipped her over and put the chain on nicely, turning the pedals with my hands until things were back they way they should be, but hindsight being 20/20 I now find myself in a position where I likely need a new derailleur and could use some advice.

My bike is a 2010 Giant Escape 2. I'm sorry but the camera on my phone recently died, or I would have a pic of the damage so that you all may assess whether the derailleur I have is repairable or not (it look pretty badly bent in more than one place). Also it looks as if I may have stripped the threads that the derailleur was seated in though I'm not 100% sure of that.

Anyway, I believe the chances of the LBS near my office of having a Shimano Altus 8 speed rear derailleur waiting for me, is slim to none. Though I'm guessing they may have other brands on hand, ready to be installed.

Can you reccommend another comparable, or possibly even better brand derailleur that I should consider if the LBS does not have a Shimano Altus on hand?

If it won't make a big difference in performance, I do not absolutely HAVE to have the exact derailleur my bike came with though I always felt it performed well.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated, thank you.

Why not just stick an Alivio on?

edit: you may well have to check that the dropout hasn't been bent out of true. LBS can usually realign. Very important for good shifting!

Thanks for responding.

I just got off the phone with the LBS a moment ago and he said he had the Alivio but not the Altus.

I feel it is possible that the dropout may be damaged, and I will make sure they check that as well, thanks.

The Alivio is a bit more money than the Altus but the reviews are very positive.

The LBS by my apartment opens at 10. I will see what they have on offer. I still have a service contract on this bike making the workmanship free at this shop. But I sincerely want to ride home tonight and it may mean enough to me to pay extra so I can ride home....

If I was patient I could buy the Alivio for $26.20 on Amazon, with free 2 day shipping (Prime trial still in effect), and then have the LBS where I bought my bike install it for free. This equals a rideable bike Friday evening/Saturday.

They want 40$ for the Alivio (which is the top price listed on Amazon) at the LBS near my office and god only knows how much they will charge for the install and tuning. So I would guess I probably cannot get this work done TODAY for less than $60 parts and labor included.

Is 2 and a half days worth of riding worth $30 more? Most likely, to me, yes. :|

I would definitely use this as an opportunity to upgrade my derailleur, but I might also advocate some patience and letting your LBS do the work, as I think building/maintaining that relationship is a good thing. I never have to worry that my preferred LBS is going to shortcut a repair for me, or that they won't bump me forward in the queue when it is important, because I am an active, loyal customer who they know is supportive.

I have 3 LBS's that I use.

One by my home (where I bought the bike), one at the foot of the 59th st bridge, and one on 38th street which is walking distance from my office.

I have tried to establish a good relationship with them all.

Though I do use the one by my home more than the others, I have purchased gear, and had work done at all three.

That being said, my relationship with my homeways LBS is quite positive, where as the others recognize me as a past customer but I don't feel a sense of loyalty like I get from my home LBS.

In an effort to excuse the extra expense I could look at this as another opportunity to bond with this manhattan shop a bit more while feeding my fix for pedaling over bridges.

I just spoke with the owner of the LBS by my apartment and he has the Deore (60+$), and the Sora (35+$).

Reviews of the Deore say it is low hanging which makes me a little wary (though I think it hangs similar to the Altus), and the Sora sounds like it's not terribly durable.

Anybody else have any recommendations between the Deore, Alivio, and Sora which are readily available?

I'm leaning towards rolling my bike down to the 38th st store around the corner with an eye to riding home tonight on an Alivio derailleur....

Have you considered getting the dropout checked and realigned (if necessary) by your LBS... here's the procedure: https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...lignment-ffg-2 , then buying a derailleur and putting it on yourself?
You'll need a chain machine and spare pin (Shimano) if you don't have a masterlink on the chain (SRAM).

Adjusting the derailleur is described here

Sorry if you know all this already

edit: the chain can be installed without breaking it by disassembling the rear derailleur, but this is maybe more hassle...

Thanks for the link.

I do aspire to become my own bike mechanic but I do not trust myself enough at this time to try to do this work myself.

If this happened on a weekend afternoon where I could pick up the part and spend hours working to make sure all was installed and tuned properly I might just use this as an opportunity for a crash course in installing and maintaining my drive train.

Alas, I do not want to spend my evening after work tonight hoping I can have a ridable bike for the morning only to possibly fail and have wasted what little time I get after work (also my girlfriend is staying over tonight....).

I really should attend one of these free bike maintenance workshops and get to learning this stuff.

Thanks again, I definitely need to spend some time on parktool and other sites just reading so I can begun to learn more.

Deore is a good line of parts. I've had two Deore derailleurs on bikes and both worked for years.

Buy the best you can afford that makes sense for that bike. In this case I'd say the Deore is worth it, and use the LBS to do the work. With bike parts in general you get what you pay for to a point, of course then at a certain level it becomes a price to weight ratio arms race that never ends. At this level the quality of the materials as you go up levels makes a difference. I would argue that if you'd had Deore on there to start with this may never have happened. it's Just a theory.

On my way to get the bike inspected and possibly have the Alivio installed.

Thanks for all the input, I will ask if he has the Deore as well...

On occasions I have asked my LBS mechanic if I can watch while he works on my bike. This has been fine with him, but if a mechanic said it's not ok, then I would absolutely respect that.
I stand back so I don't get in his way, and keep my mouth shut - well more or less

YMMMV - your mechanics miles may vary

Just saying ... you can eliminate the derailleur problems
by building a IGH wheel and eliminate the derailleur itself.

SPOILSPORT!!!! ;p

The mechanic on 38th st said I would need, a new derailleur hanger (#21, 30$), replace the chain (40$, and it was replaced about 500miles ago!), new RD (40$), plus labor....

I just ordered the Alivio on Amazon and I'm going to have to annoy the crap out of the people on the subway with my bike tonight.

I called the LBS by my apartment and asked if he had the #21 hanger, he assured me that he most likely did.

I'm hoping that he will replace the chain for no charge as he had just put a new one on for me recently. I will be stopping off at his shop with my limping steed on the way home from work.

The fact that the hanger costs about the same as the derailleur is a drag. Its a freakin metal hook with 2 holes in it. :\

Thanks again for all of the suggestions.

Hopefully I will be riding again, Saturday....

$40 for a chain??
Yikes!
Unless he's getting a high-end chain for you, it seems way too much.
A $15-20 8-speed chain should do the trick just as well. And if you are told that the extra cost is for labor, then let me know if they're hiring because $25 for 1 minute of work would be awesome.

Yeah, forty dollars for the chain is ridiculous.

Unfortunately here in manhattan, they can get away with it.

And no, he quoted that as the price BEFORE labor.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Yeah!
I've certainly spent $40 on chains before, but that was for a top end racing bike, not a commuter.

The best commuting bikes have internal gearing.

Go fixed.

^ Nonsense.

No bike does everything perfectly. Not everyone has the same needs. The best commuting bike is the one that is being ridden.

$40.00 for a new chain is ridiculous... a new quality chain should cost half of that and only takes a few minutes to install and one must ask what was wring with the chain that had 500 miles on it ?

They can only get away with this if you let them and you could always look for another shop.

Replacing the hangar, derailleur, and fitting a chain would take me about 20 minutes and I bill customers for straight time and not at any preset rate.

There are a few BF mechanics in your area who might be happy to help you with this work or you might think of buying the parts you need and hitting a local co-op to get some help with the installation.

My winter bike has an IGH... the main commuter is an 18 speed... sometimes I ride fixed on the commute (like today)... and I have an SS road bike for rainy days when I want to run light.

that was the 38th st shop to which i said, "thanks but no thanks".

the shop near my home (where i purchased the bike) has my bike right now.

i still have a free year of labor left that was included with the price of the bike.

i bought the Alivio through Amazon; after 20% off, and due to free shipping, i paid 21$.

tomorrow i will bring the mechanic the Alivio, and if he has a #21 hanger i should go home with a working bike tomorrow evening.

i do believe that the chain is probably fine. i did notice that one of my back spokes was broken though, so there's that.

also, my father offered to pay for the repairs as a belated birthday gift.

i guess i should have bought the Deore.

It's quite possible the chain got bent along with everything else. Agreed that $40 is WAY too much for a chain. A SRAM 850 should be around $20.

Glad to hear you are fixing it. Hopefully you get a bunch of trouble free miles.

thanks.

i rode for nearly 3 months with little to no troubles and in 2 weeks, a tube, a gear (split in two and fell out), and now my rear derailleur.

if needed, i think chains go for 20$ or 25$ at the shop where i'm having the work done.