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Derailleur Alignment<br />
By Brad Quartuccio<br />
178<br />
URBANVELO.ORG<br />
When it comes<br />
to rear derailleurperformance,<br />
alignment is key.<br />
Cassette cogs are barely<br />
more than half the width<br />
of a chain apart from one<br />
another—preventing<br />
chain jumps across cogs<br />
under power and maintaining<br />
proper indexed<br />
shifting requires that the<br />
derailleur pulleys remain<br />
in perfect alignment with<br />
the cogs. No amount of<br />
barrel adjustment and<br />
limit screw fiddling will<br />
correct for a misaligned<br />
derailleur hanger—any<br />
shop worth their service<br />
tag knows that the first<br />
step in most any derailleur<br />
adjustment is checking<br />
the derailleur hanger<br />
alignment.<br />
Derailleur hangers<br />
are commonly bent<br />
inward from laying<br />
the bike down on the<br />
driveside, or twisted<br />
from a horribly missed<br />
shift or debris caught<br />
in the drivetrain. Modern<br />
replaceable hangers<br />
common on aluminum<br />
and carbon frame can<br />
be “soft” and easily bent<br />
and in some cases hard<br />
to align properly given<br />
the flex between them<br />
and the frame. Some,<br />
Photos by Brad Quartuccio
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