Wolf Tooth's Amazing New Easy Bicycle Derailleur Hanger Alignment Tool
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
- I think this new bicycle derailleur hanger aligner from Wolf Tooth is one of the most impressive cycling inventions to come along in years. It’s a completely new take on a tool that’s been around - essentially in the same form, for at least 60 years, maybe even longer.
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In this video, I show how the old standard bike hanger alignment tools work and how Wolf Tooth's amazing new Pack Hanger Alignment Tool ("Pack" because it packs small for taking along on rides) is a game-changer that's easier to use and that gets better results, too. Way to go Wolf Tooth!
You can read my review of Wolf Tooth's new tool on RoadBikeRider here www.roadbikeri...
Learn more about this tool here on Wolf Tooth's website: www.wolftoothc...
Tool specs:
Price: Quick Release Kit: $59.95; Thru Axle Kit: $99.95; Quick Release and Thru Axle Kit: $119.95
Weight: Quick Release Kit: 175 grams; Thru Axle Tool: 297 grams; Quick Release and Thru Axle Kit: 324 grams
Materials: 7075-T6/6061-T6 aluminum and 303 stainless steel
Made in the USA
Compatibility:
Frames using a standard M10x1 threaded derailleur hanger
Frames using a 12mm thru axle or 5mm quick release
Frame spacing: Thru axle: 12x142 to 12x197; Quick release: all widths
Lots more bicycle fun on my classic Bicycle Aficionado site www.jimlangley.net and Bicycle Beat blog jimlangley.blog...
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the parallel line concept is certainly valid. Thanks for sharing this very informative information.
You're welcome, Graydon. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Pulled the trigger on this tool, on account of simplicity, size and your wonderful insight. Thank you sir!
Thanks for watching and commenting, pleinairrider, glad you found the video helpful. I think you'll enjoy using the tool.
Jim, I thought you did an excellent job demoing and explaining this tool. Enough for me to get one and I'm looking forward to trying it out tomorrow. I've been using the Park Tool DAG up until now, and always thought it felt a little "sloppy". I enjoyed everyone else's comments - they gave me a lot of things to think about, and obviously most if not all of them (including you!) have way more experience than I do. Thanks very much Jim!
Thanks for watching and the great comment, Peter. Sorry for the late reply, too. I hope you're enjoying using the new Park tool!
American ingenuity at it's best. Thanks for featuring.
You're most welcome, Norman. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Since I already own the Park Tool alignment tool I don't see a reason to buy another tool. It has served me well. If the hanger is reasonably within alignment I don't see the why precision would matter. The only factor precision is important is the movement of the guide pulley in relation to the cogs. You can still get prefect shifting even if the derailleur is slightly off. But thanks for showing off your new toy.
Thanks for watching and commenting, Charles. Not sure if you have Park’s new hanger alignment tool. In case you don’t know about it, that now sets the standard in my opinion. Here’s my video on it if you’re interested: th-cam.com/video/du08XdYc1KI/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for this video! It certainly is an interesting new take on a tool design that's been around for quite a while. However I'm not so sure I find it to be a better tool. The reason is that the 2 measuring points are so close together. Trying to sight parallelism is not necessarily the most easy thing to do. With the traditional one, what you have is a long arm that 'magnifies' any misalignment. The additional pin helps further to gauge the gap to the rim.
Thanks for the feedback, Kevin. There are lots of bike repair jobs that require sighting parallelisms and bike mechanics are very good at it in my experience running bicycle shops and being a pro mechanic. For example, aligning dropouts, making sure seats and handlebars/stems are straight, making sure brake levers are at the same angle, centering wheels, checking frame alignment, and so on. I find Wolftooth's new tool easier and faster than the old tools. And, if you have bad vision or trouble sighting things, you could probably measure the gaps if you wanted to. I'm just explaining more, though - it's fine with me if you like the tool you have. Thanks again.
@@JimLangley1 I suspect the biggest reason why this tool would never be adopted by bike shops is that it come in separate pieces which can get misplaced (even if only temporarily), and more importantly, takes a longer time to use. Removing the skewer and installing part of the tool is two more steps that a technician would have to perform. Techs are already too busy; time is money.
@@trekkeruss thanks a lot for watching and the thoughtful feedback, trekkeruss, appreciate it - and you could be right. Now that Park has addressed all the "issues" with old fashioned derailleur alignment tools with their new DAG-3 (I review it here: th-cam.com/video/du08XdYc1KI/w-d-xo.html ) - that's another reason shops will likely prefer to stick with the old method/tool. I still give Wolf Tooth props for thinking outside the box. Thanks again!
@@JimLangley1 I would order the new Park tool, but my suppliers have yet to get any. My shop currently uses the Abbey Tools gauge, which is better than the older Park, however it also has some faults. Of course it was designed more for a mobile/team mechanic than a shop.
I would LOVE to have an EVT, but the price is too close to jewelry for me now, never mind they never seem to have them available.
@@trekkeruss I'm sorry to hear Park's isn't available but the entire industry is having raw material sourcing issues so that might be holding Park up. I bought the EVT tool at the Interbike show maybe 10 years ago. It's a lovely tool but I feel that Park has exceeded it with their DAG-3. Hopefully you'll see the Park and have a chance to try it. They sometimes show up at bicycle events with a booth and show off their new tools. Maybe there will be something in your area where you can check it out.
nice overview! Thanks for sharing! however at the end I was surprised to hear you carry on the ride, as if the hanger is not broken, you simply pull it back in place by derailleur based on good eye and once the derailleur starts to switch gears well, you know you are close to original and can fine tune with adjusters then on the fly, so its not going to really ruin your ride, unless the hanger is broken, that's why you carry a spare one, its small piece, way way smaller than this pipe))))
Thanks a lot for watching, glad you enjoyed the video Ivan and thank you for commenting! To explain about it being designed to take along, I think Wolf Tooth did that for cyclists who pack up and ride across countries or around the world. They usually bring all the tools needed to take care of anything that could possibly go wrong. Thanks again!
Jim...Shimano made the best and most accurate derailleur alignment tool..it was cumbersome to use but used the hub to take the measurments from..i think tweaking a hanger on a carbon fiber frame may not be the most prudent thing to do as you may damage the frame..
Thanks for watching and commenting, sprocketandwheel. Yes, I had the Shimano alignment tool in the shop in the early 1980s when it came out. I wanted to provide a link to a photo but couldn't find one online.. it looks like those original Shimano tools are long gone - I sold the one I had years ago.
I'm sure you know that Shimano still makes an alignment tool but it no longer attaches to the hub probably because most hubs are cassette style and not threaded. Still, all you would need is a dedicated wheel with a threaded hub to use the tool but you would then need to be able to change that wheel's spacing for all the different axle configurations today so it probably wouldn't be that practical to use. In theory that old Shimano tool was accurate but we never liked working with that little ruler and the way it was semi locked on the tool. Kind of fussy and required continual readjustment in our experience.
Of all the new alignment tools, I like Park's new DAG-3, which I did a video on here: th-cam.com/video/du08XdYc1KI/w-d-xo.html I saw that Cycling Tips complained about its indicator but I have no idea why - it works really well in my use.
About your concern on damaging carbon frames, that shouldn't happen. The derailleur hanger on carbon frames should be a replaceable aluminum hanger. If you found a frame with a carbon derailleur hanger it probably wouldn't bend from a crash or dropped bike in the first place, it would probably break instead. So, in most cases you would be replacing a badly bent aluminum derailleur hanger, or trying to fine tune an aluminum hanger that was very slightly bent or a new one that came crooked from the factory (pretty common). When you align derailleur hangers you leave the wheel in the frame so that no force on the hanger aligning it can harm the rest of the frame, since the wheel being tight in the frame braces and protects everything. Thanks again!!
Thanks for the video. Very helpful. Just used the tool. so easy to use.
Thank you for watching and sharing that you’re finding the tool easy to use, appreciate it & happy to hear it 🙏❤️
How nice is that Campy tool set😍✌️
Thanks for watching and noticing my Campagnolo full toolkit. If anyone's interested I actually have a story with pics on it on my bicycle website here: jimlangley.net/wrench/campagnolotoolkit.html Thanks again!
I made a similar tool with two 3' long threaded rods. One went where the QR went and the other thru the deraileur. It works on the same principle as the Wolfs Tooth though not as nice. The longer rods help magnify any non-parallel discrepancy
Thanks for watching and for sharing how you made your own tool like this, Ric. Great idea!
@@JimLangley1 Actually I can't take credit for it. I saw it on this channel th-cam.com/video/WS2vd8N1Vos/w-d-xo.html
@@WowRixter thanks for sharing the link, Ric!!
Jim, my only concern is the main handle you use to actually bend the hanger, in that you said it was aluminum. It seems to me that if you do a lot of hanger adjustments, the aluminum treads are likely to strip or get funky. This part, and maybe even the alignment bar itself, should be made of good (chrome moly?) steel to hold up anywhere near as well as the tools you have been using. Just saying...
Thanks for watching and the comment, Joseph. It's hard to see how rugged this tool is in the video. The handle is an inch in diameter. It won't bend or fail matter what you do to it. The threaded end of the tool is steel, too, so the threads will last just as long as other hanger aligners, too. Wolf Tooth didn't cut any corners making this tool. It's also quite light so that it doesn't add much weight to a pro mechanic's toolbox and won't weigh down your pack if you want to carry it on your gravel bike on a long adventure where you might need it. Thanks again!
@@JimLangley1 Thanks for the clarification on there being steel threads on the end, as that was my main worry. It'll be interesting as more shops start using it, how they are received and hold up long term.
At age 66 now I'm not worried either way, because in all the decades of riding I've never needed to adjust a hanger. I mostly ride single-speeds` on one of my 5 Titanium frames. I've built up ALL my bikes from used eBay frame and components purchases, and these are run without any tensioner as they are either sliding or horizontal dropouts, so no possible strains on the hanger. But your video showed me what I was up against should I have shifting problems I can't solve.
On the few steel frames I ride (a 1983 Trek 720 and a 1953 Schwinn Paramount "touring" version in tough-to-find 49 cm frame size),... I run 1x8 at a modest pace. They are all my "sidewalk surfers" and grocery-getters mostly since I've seen too many white bikes around my various routes over the years.
Cheers,
Joe T
@@josephtousignant7318 I'm happy to hear you've never had to adjust a hanger, Joe. Being a pro mechanic, I can't even count the number of bent, twisted, mangled and even broken off hangers I've had to fix over the decades. It's quite amazing what happens to bikes. I once saw a bike that fell over in a horse's stall in a barn. It scared the horse and he literally stomped the bike into a pretzel. The owner brought it into the shop and with a serious face asked if we could fix it. Then he told us he was just joking, that his insurance had covered it. We all got a good laugh out it. It's nice you've got so many great bikes all set up custom the way you like them. The Paramount sounds like a beauty - those are wonderful riding bicycles - I had a 1974. I hear you on the white bicycle memorials everywhere. You're smart to stay safe out there. Nice talking about bikes with you. Take care and enjoy those sweet bikes!
@Jim
I tend to agree with @Le Kobiashvili regarding precision. Park Tool recommends a gap of less than 3mm (over a 180° rotation of their tool i.e. over a distance of approximately 24 inches on a 700c wheel) using their tool. Since the Wolf Tooth tool measures approximately 6" that would bring us to a difference of ¼ of 3mm or less than 1mm at the tip of the 6" between the two parallel lines. The tool is simply not long enough for precision measurement with modern derailleurs requirements. As for @randy v's comment regarding regarding the tool providing measurement on a single plane, its ridiculous. @randy v clearly lacks basic geometry or 3D visualisation (look from the top x plane, look from behind y plane).
Thanks for your opinion, Sylvain.
My personal opinion is that it needs some sort of feeler gauge with only 6” of length. I would not want to rely on my eyes due to lighting etc . It is a nice compact portable version for quick alignments but I would buy the Abbey HAG for portability and precision. Also always reference one point on the wheel at all four points 6,9,12,3 to eliminate any variances in the trueness of the wheel. Park tool has a great video on this.
@@seandooley4881 Thanks for the feedback, Sean!
Cool demo, I think both versions have their place.
In a pinch an allen key in the derailleur bolt has given me a enough leverage to get it shifting good enough to get home. This may not work if your derailleur has a really shallow socket.
Thanks for watching and the thoughtful comment and tips, my1path, appreciate it!
Brilliant 👍
Thanks for watching and commenting!
That's the best, I'm ordering one now! Great vids btw👍
Thanks for watching and the great comment, Mikey, appreciate it!
Interesting design, but I don't find it superior.
First, the measuring gauges are shorter, making the measurement less precise. Second, this tool rely on a perfectly square face of the element on which it sits - for instance the place on the hanger, where the QR nut sits. And this could be easily worn out at an angle.
Also I find this tool more complicated to use. Has more individual components and needs more disassembly on the bike.
The cool thing is that you can use it on the ground, without bike stand. This might be useful on a trip.
Thanks for the comment, Le. Did you try the tool or are you basing your comment on watching my video? I ask because my video is my attempt to show what's so special. It's through using this new tool that a person can appreciate how much better it is.
@@JimLangley1 I'm basing it off the video. Using a regular tool is fast and easy with no need to faff around with the axles.
@@brauljo Okay, thanks for letting me know.
@@brauljo You may need to true your wheel though
@@TheGeoffreyDyck Not if you use some one point of reference on the wheel
Wolfs tooth is on the right track with this tool, but like others have said, it’s not quite ‘there’ yet. They need to come up with a fixture or attachment for the ends of the rods or anywhere along them, that would let you verify by a go no go gauge, any perceived visual indication of misalignment.
Thanks for watching and sharing how you recommend Wolf Tooth should improve their tool.
Brilliant idea love it
Thanks for watching and commenting, Michael. Wolf Tooth makes some really nice stuff.
This tool will definitely be on my wish list but to bring it along on a ride seems a bit complicated compared to just bringing a new hanger or am I missing something?
Thanks for watching and the comment, Henrik. Appreciate it. Yes, if you have a bicycle with a replaceable hanger, then you could certainly carry that for a quick fix. I think Wolf Tooth is thinking about all types of bikes and riders. Gravel and tourist/adventure and mountain bikers - not everyone has replaceable hangers on their bikes. And, if you're on a long ride traveling over all kind of terrain for weeks or months you could bend a derailleur hanger more than once. Having a tool like this along could come in handy especially if you are the mechanic for your friends on the ride. I think that's their idea when they talk about it being portable enough to take along. Thanks again for watching!
@@JimLangley1 Haha I didn’t even know there were bikes without replaceable hangers 😃 Thanks for enlighten me!
Great vdo
I just ordered mine
Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks for watching and commenting, Mike, appreciate it!
Thank you
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
Awesome.
Thanks for watching, Marc!
Nice video Jim. I very much enjoy my EVT and Dura-ace aligners. I like the Dura-ace because it has some numbers that, with a little mental math, usually gets me spot on with a single bend.
However, there's a little slop and a lot of movement to compare measurements from one side to the other with the older type of tools. I definitely see the value in leaving the tool in place and observing how close your getting while you're working as you do with this wolftooth tool. I also believe that you can achieve a very high level of accuracy determining if two cylinders are parallel. A tiny gap of light at one end versus the other will show tiny fractions of a degree out of parallel even though those cylinders are far shorter than the original tools. Your detractors seem to miss that the way you measure matters just as much as the objects proportions. A longer tape measure is not more precise than a vernier caliper as extreme example.
This seems most precise for thru axle use as well. I wonder if you might test how much an intentionally bent QR skewer or damaged dropout might affect your adjustment versus the older style. Thanks for the video. I think I'll pick one up for my travel kit!
Thanks for the thoughtful feedback, James. I think you’ll like the Wolftooth tool if you try it. It solves the issues with the other tools and I find it easier to use and more accurate. Regarding bent dropouts, any time a pro fixes a bent hanger they should be checking dropout alignment at least visually. But when using the WT tool it is more critical in some situations. With QR wheels, you are clamping the QR which should straighten a bent skewer rod. The WT rod is large enough diameter to overpower the skewer. But if the dropout was stiff the tool might not be able to force it straight. For me, hanger alignment comes after dropout check and repair as needed/as possible. Thanks again for the great comment!
12mm version looks more cumbersome than a traditional alignment tool
Would be ideal if the adjusting handle had parallell lines running along
the length of it, perfect for aligning when looking from the top
Interesting idea, Tearstank, but in using the tool, it works really nice just the way it is so I don't know if it would add any improvement or not. Thank you for the comment.
@@JimLangley1 I never tried the tool myself but it looks great. My eyes are not perfect so adding lines may (dont know since i didnt try) help out. :-)
@@JimLangley1 Actually if you have a lathe you could add those lines perfectly parallell along the handle youself either by scratching them into the shaft or possibly using some marker clamped where the cutting tool normally is attached.
Let us know if you try it!
There is the tool that is built onto a hub. You remove the rear wheel and use the guide blade on the tool. Much better
name of tool?
cool tool, but wouldn’t it be easier to carry an extra derailleur hanger in case yours bends/breaks tho?
That's an excellent point, Plaster. With a spare hanger you can usually get going again. But, sometimes the crash or impact that bent the hanger (depending on the design of the hanger and frame attaching point) - makes it so that the new hanger still isn't as straight as it should be for reliable shifting. That's when having the tool would come in handy. Also, there are riders who like being the mechanic on rides and fixing their friends' bikes for them. I think Wolf Tooth was thinking of those types of riders, too. I agree with you that having a spare hanger will usually get you back to where you can keep riding and get home and that everybody should carry one just to be safe. Thanks for the comment! Jim
Is there a reason that you couldn't just take your thru axle out, flip it round and thread it in to the dropout from the outside and then use that as the thru axle part? Great video, thanks Jim.
That's a great question, Huddo. It would probably work on most thru axle bikes, I think. Cool idea for making your own tool. All you'd need to add is another axle that threads into the derailleur hanger and you'd have two reference points just like the WT tool. Good thinking! Thanks, Huddo.
@@JimLangley1 Yeah, so I can buy the QR tool for about $30, and it means that I probably don't need to buy the expensive thru axle tool for my one bike that has a thru axle!
Then of course there's always the thought that one could just buy a threaded rod, or as we do out on the trail, use a CO2 canister to bend it back :) (Same thread)
@@MrHuddy A CO2 cartridge threads into a dropout? Didn't know that. I've heard of using a threaded-same wheel axle on road bikes, nice leverage from a wheel. But, a CO2 cartridge is a cool hack! Thanks for sharing that one Huddo!
@@JimLangley1 Yep! Can be quite a handy one!
you can buy half a dozen hangers for the price of some alignment tools so only good for bike shops not normal cyclists. I see this advertised at £130 in the UK while the hanger for my bike is £18 why would anyone buy it? just carry a spare if you're that worried
Thanks for watching and sharing your point of view, Mike. It's definitely a good idea to carry a spare derailleur hanger if you crash a lot. But, to answer your question, one reason people buy and appreciate having hanger alignment tools is because not all hangers are replaceable, like the ones on many steel bicycles. So there's that, and also some people would just rather fix their bikes than buy new parts, which can add up if you have to keep buying that new part. Thanks again!
the best thing is to swap the hanger, right? :)
Good question, c m. Thanks for watching and asking. Yes, if you have a replaceable hanger on your bike, and you have the correct replacement for it, it's usually easy to replace the bent hanger with the straight one. Note that while replaceable hangers are common on today's bikes, that didn't used to be the case. So there are lots of bikes out there that you can't replace the hanger on.
But if you can, it usually fixes the problem. Unfortunately, not all new hangers arrive straight from the factory. So, ideally you would check the new hanger to make sure it's straight before installing the derailleur again. So tools like this come in handy for fixing bent ones and making sure new ones are straight, too. Thanks again!
Jim, question...why not leave the conical spring on the skewer? Doesn't that help center the skewer which would seem to be a good thing during this operation? Thanks.
Hi Peter, the purpose of the springs on quick releases is to maintain a gap between the ends of the axle and the end caps on the QR. It's all about making it easy to take the wheel off and put it back on. If you take the springs out and try putting a wheel back on, one or the other end cap will usually be in the way preventing you from putting the wheel on until you reach down and center the QR by hand. On the Wolf Tooth tool, if you leave the spring on, it will be in the way and when you tighten the rod the spring will be in between the flat face at the end of the rod and the frame dropout. You don't want that. You want the two flat faces pressed together. Hope that helps explain. And, I hope you like using your new tool! Thanks for the comment and question. Jim
@@JimLangley1 Understood. Thank you!
@@JimLangley1 Ugh - so I used my new Wolf Tooth tool - easy peazy. Then I put on my Park DAG, and it showed a 5-6mm gap! I straightened it per the DAG, then put Wolf Tooth back on and the handle/indicator bar combo were showing about a 2mm difference end to end. One thing that bugs me is that this hanger is about the softest/flimsiest I've run into. Barely touch it and it bends! I've found that with other cheapie OEM hangers and usually replace them with a nice new machined hanger from Wheels Mfg (just down the street from me!). So I think I'll replace hanger and see if there's any diff. What do you think?
@@peterweatherby8816 The unknown here is which tool is "wrong" Peter. I understand that logically if you got the hanger perfect with the WT tool you would expect that the DAG tool would also show it's perfect. But, that would only happen if 1) the hanger is indeed perfect; and 2) if both the WT tool and the DAG tool are functioning perfectly. Also, the 5-6mm you see on the DAG tool is an amplified measurement of the actual bend in the hanger because the arm is so far away from the hanger. Which means that the hanger might be out of spec more like 1 or 2mm, maybe a lot less. Also, if the hanger is so weak that it flexes as easily as you described, the issue might be that the weight of the DAG is flexing the hanger and giving a false reading.. one thing the WT tool won't do. Overall, I think the jury is out until you get a stiffer hanger on and try that one. The tools still might not show the exact same thing, but I would hope they are closer. Look forward to hearing how it goes. Thanks for the feedback! Jim
@@JimLangley1 Hello Jim! So, I installed the new stiffer hanger, straightened it with the WT tool, then checked with the DAG and again I was off, actually by even a little more than the first time! When I looked at the DAG attached to the hanger with my naked eye, I could definitely see that the bar (Park Tool calls it the "weldment") was angled in some. I believe I need more practice with the WT tool, and I have to admit that I do struggle a bit with my eyesight and making an exact determination of the parallelism of the handle and indicator does give me a little challenge. I'm actually feeling a little better about my DAG now - here's why...remember I complained about it having a little slop - well, I took a close look and could see slight looseness between the shaft that you thread into the hanger, and the round head of the weldment. And then I found something I never noticed before - a little setscrew (Park Tool calls it a "ball plunger") that tightens the shaft to the head (or vice-versa). I snugged that up, and my "slop" was gone! So this has all been a great learning experience for me. I'm thinking I might be more comfortable with my DAG because of my non-precise eyesight. It's just easier for me to see and correct to the indicator gap on the DAG. And from now on, once I have the DAG shaft threaded into the hanger, I'll snug up that ball plunger to remove tool slop. Jim, thanks so much for introducing me to the WT tool - I'll probably try it a few more times, but wanted to share with you my initial results. Take care! Pete
WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it TOOK 52 YEARS for Some GENIUS to invent this ?????????
TOO MANY MINIONS !!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for watching and the funny feedback, Joni, appreciate it.
¡Hola con permiso!
Cómo llama y dónde puedo contrar la herramienta del marco 05:00.
Iba a me servir muy bien.
Gracias 👍 😉 ✌️
Gracias por el comentario. La herramienta está disponible en Amazon.com en este enlace: amzn.to/2QkVwaK y también de la compañía en este enlace: www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/tools/products/pack-hanger-alignment-tool ¡Gracias!
Get a bent qr skewer and it will make a mess of this.
Yes, that’s a possibility but Wolf Tooth is hoping the mechanic will notice that issue and fix it first. After a crash you usually look for stuff like this especially with derailleur issues. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Makes a five minute job a half hour job? I don't see it
I appreciate you watching the video and commenting, omairlkhairy, thank you. I would just like to point out, that as a professional bicycle mechanic for 49 years now, what's most important to me is not how fast I fix things but how perfectly I fix them. While his new tool is a little slower to use because there's a few more minutes of setup time, it's that setup time that makes aligning hangers easier and more accurate. Time well spent in my opinion. Thanks again.
@@JimLangley1 I'm also a professional mechanic, in my opinion using sight to determine true will never get you anywhere near as close as a measuring scale, I've modified my own hanger straightener for a close enough fit that there is no slop, there's no way you're getting the same kind of results using this, flawed design at best.
@@omairalkhairy1 Thanks for explaining how you customized your hanger alignment tool to get it to work. That's my point. Unless you do something to fix the issues with the lever-style tools, they only allow a best guess at alignment. As a pro yourself, I'm sure you know that not everyone can customize a tool or wants to have to fix something that they thought would work well right out of the box. I'm not saying you need to try the Wolf Tooth tool, but I do think it's a great new tool that almost anyone can make an accurate hanger alignment with - and without having the modify it. Thanks again for the feedback.
While it's a unique approach, it falls short. It really is only a "good" tool in one plane. And it will not correct as precisely or specifically as, for example, the Park DAG tool. A multi-axis, multi-plane tool at rim's length against a physical target will always measure more precisely than a tool half as long without a true point of contact measurement.
Thanks for the comment, Randy. I must not have done a very good job explaining how the tool works, because it does have a "point of contact" - actually it has two, the dropout and the derailleur hanger. Plus, unlike the old style tools, the Wolf Tooth has fixed contact points - actually touching and locked in place. No old style tool locks to the rim. They can't because the tool is not equidistant from the rim all 360 degrees around it. That's why these tools are so challenging to use and to get accurate results. And in my opinion and experience using many different old style tools over the years, it's why the Wolf Tooth is easier to use. Lastly, I don't understand why a longer gauge makes for a more accurate measurement. You are the second person to say this. But, using a long rod to measure, places the reference point so far away from the thing you're measuring that any deviation in the rod is exaggerated at its end. With a short straight rod right next to another short straight rod, it's much easier to see bend issues and quite simple to correct them. Still, all mechanics should choose their favorite tools themselves and it's fine with me if this new one isn't your cup of tea. I just want to explain a little more so others understand the points I apparently didn't explain very well in the video. Thanks again, Jim
@@JimLangley1 .....Well, the point of contact I'm referencing is for which the plane of the tool can parallel. This Wolf tool is definitely not bad. One could make a fair adjustment with it, however, one could make a better one using a DAG style tool due to its extended plane of parallelism as well as its reference points being made by physical contact. If it were half the price, I'd dig it but there are DAG knockoffs for that price that will do the job a little better, imho. All good! ;)
@@randyv5678 Well, you could probably make your own Wolf Tooth clone for a lot less and try it out. I bet if you do, you'll like it. Thanks again.