I came to comment section to say the same thing...freakin genius. Prior to this i was using i hammer to flatten it on the concrete.. didn't work. This seems better than the expensive tool. Much Thanks!!!!
and after another year, I'm saying the same thing, genius! already planning to make some diy tools on weekend, then i see this, quickly grab my other wheelset, and now its aligned, thank you RJ!
I can't explain just how useful this video was, and suprisingly easy too! I couldn't believe how bent my derailleur hanger was but now it's as straight as ever, thanks!
Genius! After lots of futzing around, I finally figured out the issue on my derailleur was the hanger and this video is absolutely awesome. A big thank you RJ!
I just went back to this video. I watched it quite some time ago. I'm on a MTB vacation and shifting wasn't great at all. After checking everything twice and a third time... without fixing the issue and owning a lot of tools but no derailleur hanger adjustment tool I thought I had lucked out... Remembering this video and my son (the only one) having the old qr. I took his rear wheel and fixed the derailleur hanger! Shifting... Flawless😁👍. Thank you so much. I think my wife is even happier than me when I was driving her crazy with my "bike fixin' stuff". Thanks again man😀
Almost a 5-year-old video, but the first time I'd seen it. RJ never ceases to amaze me with great repair guidance. I'm making this exact repair on a Cannondale aluminum alloy frame. Seems to have worked just fine, despite not being steel.
Awesome tip for professional roadside repair! Another tip: for a rough eyeball adjustment, instead of wrench use a L-shaped allen key in the derailleur fastener. No need to remove wheel or derailleur and you can use the cage for reference.
Man, This man is so reliable when it comes to DIY especially when you don't have fancy tools! So much Love with your expertise and passion to help, RJ!!!
My sons bike had derailleur bent during shipping. With 2 days before Christmas there was no time to order a fancy tool and all bike repair shops were slammed unavailable. Thanks to your video i was able to fix it. Thank you sir.
man i've been watching your videos obsessively for months in the process of building a bike straight up from a frame for the first time.. you've been so extremely helpful, this trick just blew my mind. thanks RJ!!
Yeah me too. I’ve stripped, painted and replaced bits (incl rims and spokes) on my old steel SA 3-speed, and also doing my partner’s bike which I’ve modified to a 1 x 8, and these video have helped me every step of the way. RJ’s and the Park Tools vids are a good pairing actually.
Thank you, this actually worked quite well , I was able to bring a 10mm gap front -rear down to 2mm, now the biggest cog on the cassette runs a ton smoother, RJ you are my hero!
Great common sense approach to getting this fixed. You showed us how to get by without the tool while also showing us why the $75 tool is much nicer.. Even Park Tool would like this video.
Great tip, fixed my old steel bike which doesn't even have a mech hanger, the derallieur just attaches to the frame, been slightly bent for years, now shifts through an 11 speed cassette with no problem, Thanks again RJ
I've just used this method after failing to find a supplier of the tool in reasonable timescales, it worked great I'll be happy to use this method again and avoid buying the tool. Thanks for the tip.
Another one of the grateful comments, thank you so much for the video! My bike fell over recently, after that shifting got inaccurate and the chain got stuck between cassette and spokes. This method worked really well, only challenge was cross threading, which happened when trying to work with the bike upside down, but in the bike stand I could get it in straight. It took some time to get the distance even because the wheels don't overlap, having a transparent ruler helped a bit when measuring at different places. Eventually it turned out great 👍👍👍!!! Update after a few days of riding: I got the impression that the derailleur is working smoother than ever now, maybe the bike even came with the hanger a little bent in the box. Big thanks for the video!
Pulled off the rear wheel from my 29er MTB, removed the cassette and screwed the drive side into the hanger on my oldschool 26er MTB. Derailleur hanger straight as a needle. Thank you RJ for sharing this awesome method!
I found this video to be incredibly helpful! The maintenance tips provided were brilliant for keeping my bike running while sticking to a budget. The technique demonstrated in the video worked perfectly, and I quickly got my bike back on the road. Thank you for all your hard work and effort. It is genuinely appreciated.
I usually think most of these "how to" videos are simply guys wanting to hear themselves talk and pretend they're on TV or something. But in this case, some very good, sound advice!
This is beautiful. Working on a nice vintage older Trek and noticed hanger is out of wack. With this and homemade dropout tools to get the back straight. Thanks RJ. Hope all is well and you're still riding!!
superb idea RJ adding the wheel makes it easy to see it's out and then eyeball it back into place then just check with a ruler thanks RJ your the best !!
My main man! Where is the to thumbs up button. After hours of reindexing, cleaning derailleur and replacing shifter cable. This was th sollution to my skipping gear problem. The smoothness of how the other wheel fits and makes the proces easy is just amazing.
Genius. Worked perfectly for me, used the rear wheel on my older mountain bike. My bike was brand new but i suspect derailleur was bent in box shipment
I watched your video in the afternoon and came back to tell you that this method worked like freaking magic. I feel STOKED to have gained this knowledge. Thank you!
The fact you cover alot of troubleshooting i just wached the bent axle video was letting my buddy ride my gt for a while i got it back and its all messed up your honestly better than the big cycling networks on here even parktool had nothing on a bent axle like your a legend
Awesome! Thank you, sir! Was looking all over my place to look for something that screws in there and must have walked right past my old rear wheel more than hundred of times. It was just there laughing at me :D Also figured out a neat trick to visualize the wheel plane - get a thread and wind it tight over the wheel (the one that's on the bike :) ) in a couple of directions. I was straightening a hanger on a 29" bike with a 26" wheel so I could measure the distance to the thread in all directions. This saved my riding for ~2 months until my replacement hangers arrive from China :o
Hi RJ, thank you so much for sharing your incredible knowledge about bike repairs. My son fell off the bike yesterday. I managed to fix it after watching this video. He was so happy he could still go out cycling with his friends today. Best regards, from both of us in New Zealand. 👍
Thanks a lot, it worked perfectly for me!! I found that the hanger was disaligned of 1 cm (not top to down, but sideways). Before the chain would "jump"when applying more power (like sprinting or standing on the pedals uphill), now it is just PERFECT! Thank you again for sharing!!
Thanks for this! Helped me get my 9 sp rd aligned and shifting smoothly through all the gears using the adjustable spanner method. Took three tries but eventually got it to smoothly shift.
I needed this tutorial fix because last week I crashed on my bike and the derailleur hanger is a little bent towards the cogs. This is a good diy alternative if you don't have special tools
Thank you so much. The crescent wrench method worked great and I wouldn't have thought of doing this with the wheel on the bike. I just hope the bike's owner doesn't see this comment.
I want to say thanks for all your videos, this one in particular since it matches a particular need I have now. I do actually have a spare wheel available, but I never would have thought of doing this with it. Saved me over $100. Thank you.
My new bike was delivered with a bent hanger and due to covid-19 local bike mechanics are not allowed to work for the foreseeable future. This video definitely helped me, thank you.
Thank you so much for this! I've been having nightmares with my chain skipping in top gear and have tried everything from new chains and cassettes to a new wheelset! I never realised the derailleur hanger was bent until I tried this method and saw how far off one side of the wheel was. You've just ended four months of trying to fix this issue, I was about to give up and go to my LBS.
This really helped. I tried the adjustable wrench method, but I could only guess at the plane that the hanger was bent in. Using a spare wheel, I was able to see what was needed much more clearly, and I didn't have to pull the trigger on buying an expensive tool that I would rarely use.
I was convinced that the pivots in my rear derailleur were shot as I felt some play in the cage, the pulleys appeared misaligned, and the chain was a bit noisy and skipped on occasion. I decided to take a look at the hanger- sure enough, it was bent. I would have never thought to bend it with the wheel reversed but the crescent wrench trick worked great! Thanks!
just bent my hanger this last weekend thanks for this video. Will need to fix it before I can ride again. waiting on a derailleur and chain. thanks rj.
I’m going to try this on my derailleur. I straightened the hanger with a hammer and just eyeballed it till it was shifting properly.With this method I’ll make sure it is straight.
Thanks for your video. I just used this procedure to straighten the hanger on my Tokul 1 on the weekend and now it shifts perfectly. I didn't have a wrench narrow enough to fit on the nut on the hub so I used a 17 mm socket on the drive side to turn the hub until it was tight on the hanger.
This video, right here, justifies the entire existence of TH-cam. I would have butchered my son's bicycle had I not watched this video and learned from it. THANK YOU!
Can’t get my vintage brifter conversion to shift properly so I’m going to try this alignment method. Thanks for posting this brilliant idea! FOLLOW UP: I didn't have a spare wheel in the same size (700C) as the one on the bike I'm working on; I only had a 26" MTB wheel, and since the dropout is lowers the "gauge" wheel anyway, I couldn't get this to work for me. So if you're going to try this method you'll need a wheel the same size as the one of the bike you're fixing.
This is a great trick to align a derailleur hanger, and using another wheel to do is quite easy to do and visually see the accuracy of the alignment. Any suggestion on how to build a Park Tool HTS-1 frame alignment tool? Thnaks.
For more bike repair videos hit the subscribe button ► bit.ly/SubRJTheBikeGuy
Just pull it with your hand
Can i use a bench vise?
Brilliant just what l needed 😮
This method is genius!
I came to comment section to say the same thing...freakin genius. Prior to this i was using i hammer to flatten it on the concrete.. didn't work. This seems better than the expensive tool.
Much Thanks!!!!
and after another year, I'm saying the same thing, genius! already planning to make some diy tools on weekend, then i see this, quickly grab my other wheelset, and now its aligned, thank you RJ!
This should come with a warning: Don t do it if you have a carbon frame! haha
@@enlau101 what would be the solution with a carbon frame? Replace the hanger?
@@FL0RiaN94 take it to a repair shop or replace it. I bought a replacement hanger with 15 pounds.
I can't explain just how useful this video was, and suprisingly easy too! I couldn't believe how bent my derailleur hanger was but now it's as straight as ever, thanks!
nice vid. great to see you pioneering metric in the us
Genius! After lots of futzing around, I finally figured out the issue on my derailleur was the hanger and this video is absolutely awesome. A big thank you RJ!
I just went back to this video. I watched it quite some time ago. I'm on a MTB vacation and shifting wasn't great at all. After checking everything twice and a third time... without fixing the issue and owning a lot of tools but no derailleur hanger adjustment tool I thought I had lucked out... Remembering this video and my son (the only one) having the old qr. I took his rear wheel and fixed the derailleur hanger! Shifting... Flawless😁👍. Thank you so much. I think my wife is even happier than me when I was driving her crazy with my "bike fixin' stuff". Thanks again man😀
I know the feeling. I dribe my GF crazy becuase I am always fixing/tinkering wih my bikes as well.
You just saved me so much money I don't even have.
You're my hero today! ; )
Almost a 5-year-old video, but the first time I'd seen it. RJ never ceases to amaze me with great repair guidance. I'm making this exact repair on a Cannondale aluminum alloy frame. Seems to have worked just fine, despite not being steel.
RJ scores again. Great results from this and it saves buying an expensive tool that I would have only needed 3 times in the last 40yrs👍
Awesome tip for professional roadside repair! Another tip: for a rough eyeball adjustment, instead of wrench use a L-shaped allen key in the derailleur fastener. No need to remove wheel or derailleur and you can use the cage for reference.
Man, This man is so reliable when it comes to DIY especially when you don't have fancy tools! So much Love with your expertise and passion to help, RJ!!!
My sons bike had derailleur bent during shipping. With 2 days before Christmas there was no time to order a fancy tool and all bike repair shops were slammed unavailable. Thanks to your video i was able to fix it. Thank you sir.
man i've been watching your videos obsessively for months in the process of building a bike straight up from a frame for the first time.. you've been so extremely helpful, this trick just blew my mind. thanks RJ!!
Yeah me too. I’ve stripped, painted and replaced bits (incl rims and spokes) on my old steel SA 3-speed, and also doing my partner’s bike which I’ve modified to a 1 x 8, and these video have helped me every step of the way.
RJ’s and the Park Tools vids are a good pairing actually.
Thank you, this actually worked quite well , I was able to bring a 10mm gap front -rear down to 2mm, now the biggest cog on the cassette runs a ton smoother, RJ you are my hero!
This is really clever, and uploading this video to TH-cam is a great service. Thanks!
Great common sense approach to getting this fixed. You showed us how to get by without the tool while also showing us why the $75 tool is much nicer.. Even Park Tool would like this video.
Great tip, fixed my old steel bike which doesn't even have a mech hanger, the derallieur just attaches to the frame, been slightly bent for years, now shifts through an 11 speed cassette with no problem, Thanks again RJ
YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER! I got mine fixed and I don't have to buy those expensive hanger aligners anymore! THANK YOU!
I've just used this method after failing to find a supplier of the tool in reasonable timescales, it worked great I'll be happy to use this method again and avoid buying the tool. Thanks for the tip.
This saved me!!!! I’ve watched so many indexing videos...didn’t think it was bent, with this method...It was clearly bent!!
Another one of the grateful comments, thank you so much for the video!
My bike fell over recently, after that shifting got inaccurate and the chain got stuck between cassette and spokes.
This method worked really well, only challenge was cross threading, which happened when trying to work with the bike upside down, but in the bike stand I could get it in straight. It took some time to get the distance even because the wheels don't overlap, having a transparent ruler helped a bit when measuring at different places. Eventually it turned out great 👍👍👍!!!
Update after a few days of riding: I got the impression that the derailleur is working smoother than ever now, maybe the bike even came with the hanger a little bent in the box. Big thanks for the video!
Pulled off the rear wheel from my 29er MTB, removed the cassette and screwed the drive side into the hanger on my oldschool 26er MTB. Derailleur hanger straight as a needle. Thank you RJ for sharing this awesome method!
I found this video to be incredibly helpful! The maintenance tips provided were brilliant for keeping my bike running while sticking to a budget. The technique demonstrated in the video worked perfectly, and I quickly got my bike back on the road. Thank you for all your hard work and effort. It is genuinely appreciated.
I usually think most of these "how to" videos are simply guys wanting to hear themselves talk and pretend they're on TV or something. But in this case, some very good, sound advice!
Or they are posted to try and sell you an expensive tool :(
RJ is a gift from the bike Gods.
This is beautiful. Working on a nice vintage older Trek and noticed hanger is out of wack. With this and homemade dropout tools to get the back straight. Thanks RJ. Hope all is well and you're still riding!!
You sir are a legend. I've managed to successfully fix my bike up. Keep up the good work!
Flipping the wheel around for when using a wrench for rough bending is a great idea - glad I watched to get that extra nugget of wisdom
superb idea RJ adding the wheel makes it easy to see it's out and then eyeball it back into place then just check with a ruler thanks RJ your the best !!
My main man! Where is the to thumbs up button. After hours of reindexing, cleaning derailleur and replacing shifter cable. This was th sollution to my skipping gear problem.
The smoothness of how the other wheel fits and makes the proces easy is just amazing.
Genius. Worked perfectly for me, used the rear wheel on my older mountain bike. My bike was brand new but i suspect derailleur was bent in box shipment
Thank you RJ. This is genius, rescued a bike I nearly gave up on. I finally got the index working after straightening the hanger with this method.
I was just thinking that RJ probably has a real genius way of fixing this and sure enough, the wheel method! Thx from Tokyo!
I watched your video in the afternoon and came back to tell you that this method worked like freaking magic. I feel STOKED to have gained this knowledge. Thank you!
I was just about to buy the tool and I am glad I found this video!
So helpful! I needed my bike good to go for a ride tomorrow and this technique saved the day!
The fact you cover alot of troubleshooting i just wached the bent axle video was letting my buddy ride my gt for a while i got it back and its all messed up your honestly better than the big cycling networks on here even parktool had nothing on a bent axle like your a legend
Awesome! Thank you, sir!
Was looking all over my place to look for something that screws in there and must have walked right past my old rear wheel more than hundred of times. It was just there laughing at me :D Also figured out a neat trick to visualize the wheel plane - get a thread and wind it tight over the wheel (the one that's on the bike :) ) in a couple of directions. I was straightening a hanger on a 29" bike with a 26" wheel so I could measure the distance to the thread in all directions.
This saved my riding for ~2 months until my replacement hangers arrive from China :o
Hi RJ, thank you so much for sharing your incredible knowledge about bike repairs. My son fell off the bike yesterday. I managed to fix it after watching this video. He was so happy he could still go out cycling with his friends today. Best regards, from both of us in New Zealand. 👍
This worked a treat, many thanks for saving me money on a tool and your excellent tutorial
First thing : amazing trick much more cheaper than the tool itslef
Second thing : RJ is never out of Pepsi or Mtn Dew
This worked like a charm on my Surly Straggler after I dropped it and bent the hanger. Thank you! Keep up the good work, I love your videos 👍
Absolute brilliance. Saved me time and money instantly
Thanks a lot, it worked perfectly for me!! I found that the hanger was disaligned of 1 cm (not top to down, but sideways). Before the chain would "jump"when applying more power (like sprinting or standing on the pedals uphill), now it is just PERFECT! Thank you again for sharing!!
I wanted to dispose my old wheels soon. Now I will keep the rear wheel as a tool, thanks a lot :)
I am truly impressed. Simple, clear, perfectly explained and the rear wheel trick is brilliant.
Thanks for this! Helped me get my 9 sp rd aligned and shifting smoothly through all the gears using the adjustable spanner method. Took three tries but eventually got it to smoothly shift.
RJ, i just bought some marine grease for my bearings because of you! thanks
I needed this tutorial fix because last week I crashed on my bike and the derailleur hanger is a little bent towards the cogs. This is a good diy alternative if you don't have special tools
Thank you so much. The crescent wrench method worked great and I wouldn't have thought of doing this with the wheel on the bike. I just hope the bike's owner doesn't see this comment.
this is brilliant, the kind of thing a home mechanic can really use. Most of us are not going to have the extensive specialty tools a pro would have
So genius!!!
You're the best RJ 👍
Genius. That has saved me so much time and Money. Thank you.
I want to say thanks for all your videos, this one in particular since it matches a particular need I have now. I do actually have a spare wheel available, but I never would have thought of doing this with it. Saved me over $100. Thank you.
Same here, I have a spare rear wheel and this worked good enough to save going to the LBS or getting a new RD hanger.
RJ Mc Gyver Guy , strikes Again. Thank you again for solving another of my problems.
Incredibly valuable info. Your videos have helped me greatly. Thank you!
My new bike was delivered with a bent hanger and due to covid-19 local bike mechanics are not allowed to work for the foreseeable future. This video definitely helped me, thank you.
Bike shops are open here as essential services.
This is pure genius. Thank you.
Wow!! This works like a charm. Actual genius RJ. Thanks for sharing this gem. My gears are now shifting silky smooth.
Real slick RJ. Can't wait for diy tool vid. For everyone wondering, the hanger / rear qr axle thread size is M10 x 1 or 10 x 1mm.
Which I mention at 1:43.
Yes you do. I thought it was worth pointing it out in comment section. Cheers
This video saved me money. Worked perfectly. Thanks!
RJ never cesses to amaze, thanks for sharing
Fantastic video. I was searching the net to deal with this exact problem and your video help tremendously. Thank you for all the tips.
I just did this on my SC Nomad2 and found my hanger was way off. Now everything works perfectly. Great hack! thanks.
Thank you so much for this! I've been having nightmares with my chain skipping in top gear and have tried everything from new chains and cassettes to a new wheelset!
I never realised the derailleur hanger was bent until I tried this method and saw how far off one side of the wheel was. You've just ended four months of trying to fix this issue, I was about to give up and go to my LBS.
This really helped. I tried the adjustable wrench method, but I could only guess at the plane that the hanger was bent in. Using a spare wheel, I was able to see what was needed much more clearly, and I didn't have to pull the trigger on buying an expensive tool that I would rarely use.
Beautiful. Exactly what I needed.
I was convinced that the pivots in my rear derailleur were shot as I felt some play in the cage, the pulleys appeared misaligned, and the chain was a bit noisy and skipped on occasion. I decided to take a look at the hanger- sure enough, it was bent. I would have never thought to bend it with the wheel reversed but the crescent wrench trick worked great! Thanks!
Great call on the rear wheel trick and explanation.
Excellent ❗ R.J. to the rescue of us with limited funds and bike repair needs. Great video.
Works a treat!
I found it hard to measure, and probably only got within 4 or 5mm, but derailleur is now shifting mutch better.
th-cam.com/video/sWdO4dnu18g/w-d-xo.html
Saved me 2 days of no riding. Thanks a bunch man.
This method IS genius. Subscribed.
just bent my hanger this last weekend thanks for this video. Will need to fix it before I can ride again. waiting on a derailleur and chain. thanks rj.
great idea well presented fixed my skipping chain without the need for expensive special tooling . great job
In France we say this is a "document d'utilité publique" I think it don't even need a translation 👍 Amazing tips!
I’m going to try this on my derailleur. I straightened the hanger with a hammer and just eyeballed it till it was shifting properly.With this method I’ll make sure it is straight.
Another great tip! Thanks RJ! Learned a lot watching your videos!
Tks, this saved my day after a not so great alignment by my LBS. Another cool trick to learn too.
Thanks for this fix using another rear wheel, worked like a charm!
Thanks RJ from Brazil! i did the same and worked pretty well.
Just used this to straighten my hanger and it worked great. Thanks for the video
Thanks for your video. I just used this procedure to straighten the hanger on my Tokul 1 on the weekend and now it shifts perfectly.
I didn't have a wrench narrow enough to fit on the nut on the hub so I used a 17 mm socket on the drive side to turn the hub until it was tight on the hanger.
Genius, and just what I need. Saves me buying a tool I’ll rarely use. Thanks RJ
RJ is a blessing 🙏
this was brilliant! my question would be how perfetly straight it has to be? if we can adjust the rear derailleur anyways..thanks
This is genius, worked perfect!
Very clever and seemingly effective fix! Good job!
this is brilliant! fantastic! thanks, RJ! Just tried this and it worked great on my 29er mtb.
This video, right here, justifies the entire existence of TH-cam. I would have butchered my son's bicycle had I not watched this video and learned from it. THANK YOU!
Can’t get my vintage brifter conversion to shift properly so I’m going to try this alignment method. Thanks for posting this brilliant idea! FOLLOW UP: I didn't have a spare wheel in the same size (700C) as the one on the bike I'm working on; I only had a 26" MTB wheel, and since the dropout is lowers the "gauge" wheel anyway, I couldn't get this to work for me. So if you're going to try this method you'll need a wheel the same size as the one of the bike you're fixing.
This is a brilliant fix, thank you!
Great video, simple steps to save money and get it done perfectly.
This may very well be easier to adjust than with the proper tool. Kudus to the quick thought on this one.
Wow this helped so much!!!! Glad I have a extra rear wheel at hand. Thumbs up!!!
Honestly worked a treat!
I use this method all the time.
Innovation at it's best.😎
This worked a treat. Thanks so much 🙂
Thanks a lot for this video, I actually just fixed my "decent" bike with 1x11 setup using the wheel in hanger bodge 😅
That is an amazing hack. Thanks so much.
This is a great trick to align a derailleur hanger, and using another wheel to do is quite easy to do and visually see the accuracy of the alignment.
Any suggestion on how to build a Park Tool HTS-1 frame alignment tool? Thnaks.
I wouldn't. The same reason I don't use this tool. th-cam.com/video/DIY0e7wM4jg/w-d-xo.html