USA
Save Hundreds with Direct Mount Derailleur Hangers
The derailleur hanger, a small cast alloy component on your bike, either goes unnoticed or can be the cause of much grief on the road or trail.
First, a brief history on what it is and what it does. About 60 years ago, when rear gears were first introduced to cycling, frame and derailleur manufacturers had to come up with a solution to attach the derailleur to the bike. Back then, the frame had a longer piece of steel below the dropout, where the derailleur would clamp onto and operate from. Whilst this worked fine, it became a massive problem as soon as the derailleur suffered an impact and bent or broke that small frame extension. Some riders would try to repair this damaged extension, others would scrap the frame.
Soon after, bike manufacturers created replaceable derailleur hangers that could be easily swapped if damaged, bent, or broken. Each brand created their own hanger design, frame-dependent and mostly made out of cast alloy. Whilst this was a significant improvement on the first generation of derailleur hangers, the lack of a standard between brands and the construction of the hanger itself only solved the “fixing after it breaks” part of the problem. Derailleurs would still end up hitting the spokes after a medium/heavy hit. After a few decades of this new standard, Shimano looked into solving the problem and strengthening one of the bike’s weakest points.
The Direct Mount Derailleur Hanger is now a much sturdier component, made out of forged alloy and “S” shaped, instead of being flat, thus making this whole area stronger and less prone to failure.
Ask riders who had their hangers fail mid-ride, either because it broke or bent enough to get caught by the spokes. They’ll tell you of the hundreds of dollars spent fixing broken derailleurs and spokes.
Whilst the new Direct Mount Derailleur Hanger is now the norm for high-end mountain bikes, it hasn’t yet been implemented on entry & mid-level mountain bikes on major brands, due to its extra cost (~$3 extra per bike). Polygon Bikes, well known for manufacturing their own brand and producing bikes for many others, have incorporated this technology into nearly all their mountain bikes. The results have been great, significantly reducing derailleur damage due to hanger failure. Polygon bikes offer great value and feature Shimano’s newest innovation in mechanical problem prevention.
Start saving hundreds of dollars by shopping at Bicycles Online for Mountain Bikes.
