Bike rear derailleur

rear derailleur Fixes, Reviews & Guides

Embedded thumbnail for Tips for Maintaining Derailleur Hangers

Tips for Maintaining Derailleur Hangers

Today's Bearded Bike Tip is talking about the Derailleur Hanger on your bicycle. It is a little tiny piece of your bike, at first look you wouldn't even see it. Tucked away at the back of your...

Type: Repair Tutorial
Embedded thumbnail for Troubleshooting with Di2 Rear Derailleur and New Wheel

Troubleshooting with Di2 Rear Derailleur and New Wheel

Di2 Rear Derailleur Troubleshooting with Rear Wheel

Di2 Rear Derailleur Overshifts Slightly

The derailleur may be auto shifting because the Di2 system...

Type: Repair Tutorial
Embedded thumbnail for Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 10 Speed Rear Derailleur

Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 10 Speed Rear Derailleur

Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 10 Speed Rear Derailleur:

This product from Shimano’s Dura-Ace line is aimed at rider putting in serious miles or doing a ton of racing.

The rear derailleur...

Company: Shimano Dura Ace
Type: Review
Embedded thumbnail for Review of SRAM Force 22 Group Set Components

Review of SRAM Force 22 Group Set Components

Sram Force 22 Review:

Force is right below Sram’s top-end Red group set. Any Sram branded 22 is their 11-speed version. Currently they have Sram Red, Force, and Rival in 11-speed...

Company: SRAM
Type: Review
Embedded thumbnail for How to Check and Adjust a Rear Derailleur

How to Check and Adjust a Rear Derailleur

How to adjust your rear derailleur:

What does your rear derailleur actually do? It is responsible for moving your chain from one cog to the next. It does this by pushing or pulling the...

Type: Repair Tutorial
Embedded thumbnail for How to Install a SRAM Bike Chain

How to Install a SRAM Bike Chain

Chains are where you can get a lot of grit and just plain dirtiness accumulating so it’s something you should clean and maintain on a regular basis. If you need to install a chain, remember to get...

Company: SRAM
Type: Repair Tutorial
Embedded thumbnail for Overview of Shimano CX70 Cyclocross Components

Overview of Shimano CX70 Cyclocross Components

Shimano unveils new CX70 cyclocross components:

The cross group is made up of the primary components of cantilever brakes, front derailleur, and cyclocross specific cranks. Those three...

Company: Shimano
Type: Review
Embedded thumbnail for Install and Adjust SRAM Road Derailleurs

Install and Adjust SRAM Road Derailleurs

Required told: 5 mm hex, torque wrench, phillips head screwdriver, flat head screwdriver, derailleur alignment tool, cable cutters, and needle nose pliers.

It is important to note that Sram...

Company: SRAM
Type: Repair Tutorial
Embedded thumbnail for How to Pack Your Bicycle in a Bike Box for Travel

How to Pack Your Bicycle in a Bike Box for Travel

The Bike Tube Hint: Don’t rush off and buy a professional bike box or bike bag. First head over to your local bike shop and ask if they have any leftover boxes from when bikes were shipped to...

Type: Repair Tutorial
Embedded thumbnail for DIY Index Rear Bike Gears

DIY Index Rear Bike Gears

Most cyclers are familiar with the sweet sound of a gear clicking into place when they make a flick of their shifter. In a perfect world this isn't accompanied by any quick jerking and with little...

Type: Repair Tutorial
Embedded thumbnail for DIY Set Derailleur Limits

DIY Set Derailleur Limits

It's good to push things to the limit when you're rock climbing or running a 5K but the derailleur on your bike should stay well within it's set range. The upper and lower limits of your...

Company: Park Shimano
Type: Repair Tutorial
Embedded thumbnail for How to Fix a Bent Rear Derailleur

How to Fix a Bent Rear Derailleur

Peter wants to know: my bike fell over on the drive side and bent my derailleur hanger. Do you have any tips on how to straighten it back out?

Having a spare derailleur hanger on hand is...

Company: Velo SRAM
Type: Repair Tutorial
Embedded thumbnail for DIY Shimano Rear Derailleur Adjustment

DIY Shimano Rear Derailleur Adjustment

Rear derailleurs for the most part are relatively maintenance free except for lubing and cleaning regularly. One minor fix you may have to perform on a regular basis is an adjustment for when the...

Company: DT Swiss Shimano
Type: Repair Tutorial
Embedded thumbnail for Simple Shimano XT Rear Derailleur Adjustment

Simple Shimano XT Rear Derailleur Adjustment

Hey this is Johnny Bravo from Performance Bicycle. 

Derailleurs guide the chain from here to gear and when they work they're great but when they don't your stuck and your frustrated,...

Company: Truvativ Shimano
Type: Repair Tutorial
SRAM Groupo

Sram Road Bike Components: A Comprehensive Overview

Officially launched in 1988, Sram is a relatively young company with a lot of design ingenuity and the original maker of the Grip Shift. They’ve been making their way up through the bike component...

Blog Tags: SRAM Groupos
Type: Blog entry

Shimano Component Groups for Mountain Bikes: A Comprehensive Overview

Just in case you mtb-ers thought I forgot about you, think again.

Here’s a look at all the component groups for mountain bikes that Shimano has out, starting from the bottom up.

...

Blog Tags: Shimano MTB Groupos
Company: Shimano XT XTR
Type: Blog entry

Shimano Components Groups for Road Bikes: A Comprehensive Overview

Shimano is a major components company. That said, there are TONS (and I seriously mean TONS) of different options that you can choose from when you buy a component group from this maker.

...

Blog Tags: Shimano groupos
Type: Blog entry
Embedded thumbnail for How to Adjust Shimano STI Shifters

How to Adjust Shimano STI Shifters

“STI” stands for “Shimano Total Integration” and it refers to the fact that the gear shifter and the brakes can be accessed in the same lever.

How it works is that the lever is a vertical...

Company: Park SRAM Shimano
Type: Repair Tutorial
Embedded thumbnail for How to Adjust a Shimano Rapidfire Shifter

How to Adjust a Shimano Rapidfire Shifter

Shimano Rapidfire Shifters are used on upright handlebars and use a mechanism that consists of a thumb and an index finger trigger. The thumb moves you to a larger sprocket and the index...

Company: Shimano
Type: Repair Tutorial
Embedded thumbnail for How To Adjust a Mountain Bike Front Derailleur

How To Adjust a Mountain Bike Front Derailleur

How To Adjust a Mountain Bike Front Derailleur

Tools you will need:

allen key

...
Company: Maxxis Park Shimano
Type: Repair Tutorial

Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.

- Charles M. Schulz

 

The rear derailleur is a complex and hard working component that keeps the drivetrain in balance. It aligns the chain to ride on a selected cog of the cassette meanwhile maintaining proper chain tension from the cassette back to the chainring. 

Know the hardware: Rear derailleurs are built from different materials ranging from carbon composites to aluminum alloys. Check out the anatomy of a rear derailleur - 

Anatomy of a rear derailleur

  • Hanger bolt - mounts the component to the frame
  • Cable Barrel adjuster - controls and maintains the shifter cable tension between the cage plate. There is another cable barrel adjuster on the shifter.
  • Cable anchor bolt - clamps down on the shifter cable behind the barrel adjuster. The cable anchor bolt actually bonds the cable to the cage plate of the derailleur.
  • Limit Screws - set all-important upper and lower ranges that the cage plate can swivel. The balance between limit screws and shifter cable tension accounts for almost all derailleur troubleshooting.
  • Jockey pulley (Guide pulley) - keeps the chain fixed in alignment, and provides a fulcrum for the cage plate to rotate
  • Idler pulley (Tension pulley) - maintains tension on the chain between the cassette and the chainring at all times. When the cage plate moves, tension is adjusted on the idler pulley which pulls or releases the chain from one sprocket to another. 
  • Cage Plate - The cage plate pivots on the Jockey pulley by the power of the shifter cable in one direction, and a tension spring in the other. Adjustment in the angle of the cage plate directly changes the angle and chain tension of the idler pulley. This adjustment is how a shift is initiated from riding on one cog of the cassette to another.

 

Maintenance Difficulty (4/10): While the rear derailleur is a complex component with moving parts, there isn't much to be intimidated by. If you can't reach a gear or the chain is falling off the cassette in either direction, it's time to check limiting screws and shifter cable tension. Get the bike on a repair stand and shift up and down the cassette as you make slight adjustments until you are comfortable with the derailleur performance.Emphasis on the slight, this component is about finding balance. Now might also be a good time to check your chain for damage/wear, as this could also lead to poor shifting performance. For everything you need to know about rear derailleur adjustments, check out our cool tutorials. 

Explore all of your gears, friend.