I bent my hanger back by hand, was that wrong? should I not have done that?
 

I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first bought the bike that that sort of thing was frowned upon..


So my bike was leaning against the wall in my apartment and fell over. The hanger was bent so much so that when I was in the 2nd lowest gear, the chain was in the largest gear in the cassette. I grabbed the rear derailleur and bent it back, went for a 30k ride and it shifted as good as it ever has, maybe even better. I tested it through the whole range of gears.

So, could this have done any long term damage, or should I be fine?

I also have had an alleged bent hanger that caused major issues for me when my bike was new, so I don't want a repeat. (Linked below) This is a 3rd party replacement hanger.

http://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...up-carbon.html

if your worried bring it into a bike shop and they can makw sure the hanger is perfect. other wise make sure that your low limit screw on the derailur is set correctly

If it works and it looks straight, you're fine. Make sure the derailleur limit screws are set and ride away. There's nothing wrong with "bending" it by hand except for putting undue stress on the derailleur itself. Again, if it works, you're fine.

I agree with the above comments: no problemo.

I wouldn't have done it your way either OP...because I own the Park Hanger Alignment Tool which I use pretty religiously on my bikes for best shifting but you are likely ok. Doing what you did is simply bad for the derailleur...to use it like a lever because of its joints but if it shifts OK you probably dodged a bullet, but unless you hit the lottery, your hanger isn't straight. A hanger isn't particularly easy to get perfect even with the Park tool. Hanger alignment isn't just vertical...its horizontal as well...needs to be aligned in 2 planes for best shifting performance.

What material is the hanger ? I assume aluminum, so check for cracks at the bend. Steel is more tolerant of rebending without cracking.

Exactly. You should not eyeball this.

OP...take it to a shop. takes two seconds to check. If it's not straight, get a new one...you will be a lot happier.

As they say "the proof of the pudding is in the eating". You had a bent hanger and you straightened it. Now the shifting is as good or better than ever, so what's to fix?

2 things for future reference

1- it's easier and better for the RD to hand bend a hanger by sticking a hex key into the upper pivot bolt and levering from there.
2- anytime you tweak a hanger, you should confirm that the inner limit is properly adjusted because this is critical and the margin for error is tiny.

Otherwise you're good to go, but shouldn't talk about it because the purists will be all over you.

I agree with FB. If it works, it works. Good job on eye-balling the alignment too.

The derailleur itself should be fine. The hanger in theory will snap before the derailleur gives way. It's not like you're using the derailleur as a lever every day. So I would rest easy on that front.

Worst case is that you've induced some weakness into your hanger from the initial bend followed by the unbend. That's no different than if you had used a hanger alignment tool.

FB is correct about the inside limit. Worth double checking that one. You don't want the chain falling over into the spokes.

lol...simply baloney what you write. Shifting OK isn't the same as shifting perfectly. I would say that 80% bikes on the road have eyeballed hangers and generally the reason why they shift sub par aside from incorrect cable tension. From the factory hangers aren't straight...almost NEVER. No eye can see the hanger in 2 planes. Bend the hanger vertically by hand or by Park alignment tool and it changes the horizontal alignment. Why, because the hanger isn't straight down from its bend point.

So this is way more nuanced than the average guy (you) understands and why all the crappy shifting bikes on the road.

Using the derailleur as a hanger bended at any point is very BAD advice. What to do if you are on the road and your bike tips over and falls on the hanger...or you get in a crash and need to get home? What FB said...place a hex key in the RD mounting hole and use the L shaped allen to bend the hanger up straight to the eye. BTW, this won't work for Campy because they use Torx but one can find something suitable to put in that hole and get leverage. Will this create optimal shifting? No. Impossible because the human eye can't see derailleur alignment in two planes. On the way home don't shift to the biggest or smallest cog in back. After straightening the derailleur properly with the Park Tool which few own and all should unless they want to pay bike shop prices for less care...the chain should be removed to adjust the high and low limit stops of the RD. One can not get true hi and low stop position correct with the chain on....many don't know that either.

Campag is right.

Your chances of getting it aligned correctly without the tool are pretty dismal.

Yes, I would bend it back by hand in an emergency, but it still needs to be checked and correctly aligned at the earliest chance.

I'd buy a new derailleur hanger, if it's aluminum. Odds are good the one you have will be fine. However, they're cheap to replace, and by bending significantly, and bending it back you've fatigued it, and increased the likelihood that it will fail someday, potentially at an inapt time.

So replacing it when you have the chance is cheap insurance.

Why I did precisely what the OP did. I used the derailleur as a lever and eyeballed the alignment well enough to make it home.

I take the OP at his word that his bike shifts "as good as it ever has, maybe even better". FB's advice to check the inside limit screw is good, and I agreed w/it. The derailleur itself is probably undamaged. One-time use as a lever isn't likely to hurt it.

The hanger angle was messed up by your bike falling over? By just going "flop"?

I don't argue this type of stuff because it isn't worth it. People have different opinions, so I offer mine and let readers decide.

Normally a hanger tool is preferred for a number of reasons, including simply being easier to get it aligned, and I usually reserve the hex key method for field use.

But the OP seems to have it aligned decently, or at last decently enough that the RD is shifting as well or better than before, and he is satisfied with the performance ---- which is what hanger alignment is about in the first place.

This brings us full circle to the "don't fix what ain't broke" rational. The bike works, so there's nothing to fix now.

As for the hanger being weakened by bending, it shouldn't be an issue for a single bend and straighten cycle (or even for a few). New hangers are routinely bent after installation because they don't automatically sit square when first bolted on, so they are made with a certain amount of ductility to allow bending (within limits).

As I said earlier, the only thing the OP did wrong was talk about it, which exposes him to all the hand wringing and tsk tsk commentary.

Yep, it happens all the time.

If a bike falls on the right side, and hits on the RD, especially in high gear, it bends hangers inward. This is probably the number one cause of RDs overshifting into spokes, and has been since the invention of the hanger mounted RD generations ago.

I wouldnt know by experience.

Good thinking isn't digital aka binary or only one 0 and one 1. If insistence on binary thinking better have 30 data pts or 30 sets of 0's and 1's.

Or think analog which is what life is and certainly well engineered designs like derailleurs. Adequate shifting isn't the same as perfect shifting. You are the type of guy who settles and my background is developing designs and if well engineered designs are adjusted properly versus swagged then the result is much better. So no if it ain't broke don't fix it doesn't apply. There is a spectrum of good and a range of bad....not just either good or bad.

So, either do it right and align the hanger properly and derive the best shift performance...or settle for a range of 'ok' by swagging the hanger position by eye. Sometimes a big difference in performance between ok and perfect where the bike slams into gear down the cassette because indexing is dialed and the rear derailleur tracks dead orthogonal to the plane of each cog which the designers hope if not expect from a good bike set up and sadly rarely adhered to in my experience. Even bike shops using the Park Tool because of time constaints don't even get the RD dead nuts in many instances...if they don't cross thread the hanger hole in process....more ham fisted bike shop wrenches than not and the average guy is even worse but there are exceptions. Never seen a high end factory bike with perfectly plumb hanger either FWIW.

Will give you guys another tip that may save you some grief or a lot of $$$ down the road.

There may be an inclination when building a bike to adjust the hanger early in the build process...say with the wheel loosely installed in back without adequate skewer tension. BAD mistake. Always make sure the rear skewer is adjusted with full tension and the wheel is dead in the crotch of the drop out. The reason is bending the hanger puts a lot of stress on not only the hanger but on adjacent dropout. If failing to have the skewer fully tight, one can crack the carbon frame in fact..the dropout derives strength by the wheel axle and it needs to be very tight...same tension you ride the bike with which also affects wheel position and shift indexing as well.

Hopefully most riders won't either, because the experience can be expensive.

great moment in costanza history

A PERFECT example of why I don't argue this kind of stuff here.

Passive Aggressive?

EVERY time you straighten a RD hanger by hand a kitten dies.

I have done more than my share of controlling the excess cat population, especially on my MTBs.:)

I've answered the OP's question, and so have you and others. I'm not uncomfortable with disagreement, but you prefer to argue and seem to be frustrated that I won't. I can't help that.

Maybe this will.

https://www.google.com/search?q=monty+python+argument+sketch&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8