Hot take: aligning derailleur hangers is harder than most people admit

I spent 2 hours last night trying to fix a shifting issue on a customer's Trek and it turned out the hanger was bent like 3 degrees off. Is it worth buying the Park Tool alignment gauge for $170, or do you think the bolt-in-the-dropout trick works just as good for a shop on a budget? What's your take on cutting corners here?

2 comments

2 Comments

skylerrobinson1d agoMost Upvoted

Question if it's worth stressing that much over a few degrees of bend. Is that 2 hours really gonna break the bank compared to just sending it and seeing if it shifts okay?

alice2691d ago

The 3 degrees thing is wild to me because I've seen bikes shift fine with way worse bends and others that are totally picky about like half a degree. I bent a hanger back on my own bike once by just eyeballing it with a quick release in the dropout and it worked fine for months. But on a customer's bike that 2 hours couldve been avoided with the Park Tool gauge if you got the money. I dont know, the bolt trick is sketchy but sometimes good enough if youre not charging for the time.