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Snapped a chain on my daily rider last month and learned something dumb about my bike fit
I was climbing a steep hill in Austin when my chain snapped mid-pedal, and after looking closer I realized my derailleur hanger was slightly bent for months - has anyone else had a bent hanger wreck their shifting without them noticing?
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spencer_ross6d ago
Bent hangers are honestly one of those things you don't notice until it's way too late lol. I had the same thing happen on my fixed gear conversion where I ran a rear derailleur for a while and the shifting just felt "off" but I blamed it on the cheap components. Turns out the hanger was tweaked maybe 2mm and it was throwing everything out of whack under load. That little bit of bend makes the chain sit crooked under power, especially climbing when you're really torquing on the cranks. It puts weird lateral stress on the chain and it'll snap a link clean off if you're unlucky. I started checking my hanger alignment with a cheap tool every couple months since then and it's saved me from blowing up a chain mid-ride more than once. Your shifting probably felt notchy or slow on the steep stuff too right?
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ivan2116d ago
Totally agree @spencer_ross, the notchy shifting under load is the dead giveaway every time lol.
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jamesmason6d ago
Bent my hanger at a gravel race last fall and rode the whole thing thinking my legs were just shot. Got home and the thing was tweaked like a pretzel. What really got me was how I kept blaming my new pedals for feeling weird under power. Turns out the whole drivetrain was fighting itself the whole time. Now I tape a little Park Tool bubble level to my top tube for shits and giggles on long rides.
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