Straighten/Align Bent Derailleur Hanger Without Special Tool

Clever!

this was brilliant! my question would be how perfetly straight it has to be? if we can adjust the rear derailleur anyways..thanks

The two rods way.

I like the new wolf tooth methed

My bolt is small

This worked a treat, many thanks for saving me money on a tool and your excellent tutorial

You saved me !!!
Thanks

Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

Beyond Amazing! Many Thanks!

Awesome Hack, worked great

brilliant

Genius!

So genius!!!
You're the best RJ 👍

What a lifesaver - thank you!

I swear after the first second i was expecting :HellllooooHambiniiiifaaaans :D

Superb video ! George UK

Hey RJ! I’m having trouble adjusting my rear derailleur, the hanger looked bent so I use the second method and it looks straight now but the derailleur looks weird and it’s not shifting properly, could it be that the derailleur is bent too?

Great video RJ

This worked a treat. Thanks so much 🙂

So helpful! I needed my bike good to go for a ride tomorrow and this technique saved the day!

Saved me 2 days of no riding. Thanks a bunch man.

RJ, when installing a new hanger, do i need to use a derailleur alignment tool? That’s what some guys at a bike forum said. I thought with a brand new derailleur hanger, i just need to simply screw it in and that’s it.

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.

The flipping of the wheel so that the drive side is on the other side was genius! Last thing you want is to bend the dropout, create even more issues

I think the wheel is a great idea and gives a little leeway when bending as the spokes will flex too. Watch out for people replacing the alloy hangers with cheap monkey metal versions, ice cold day and someone brings in one of those to straighten you need to hope you got a spare....

Incredibly valuable info. Your videos have helped me greatly. Thank you!

Clever, using a spare wheel as tool.

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.

AWESOME worked like a charm!

So clever!!! 🤗🤗🤗

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!!!

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!!

Genius!

Great.... Thanks

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.

Somebody buy this man a drink

Thanks for the great video and luckily I have a spare wheel.

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.

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😀

Dude, awsome idea, was so helpful

Great video, thanks for the good idea to use a wheel! Just wondering....is there any chance of bending the dropouts as well as the derailleur hanger when doing this? Or does the wheel clamped into the dropouts prevent that?

Amazing

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.

Genius!

I was just thinking that RJ probably has a real genius way of fixing this and sure enough, the wheel method! Thx from Tokyo!

RJ thank you so much. I'm going to give it a go.

This video saved me money. Worked perfectly. Thanks!

Great tips. Thanks!!