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I stuffed up my rear derailleur hanger :-(

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francisbarton:
I got an old and rubbish bike off Freecycle recently, cleaned it up, did some work to the wheels, replaced the rear brake cable and adjusted the brakes, adjusted the saddle, refurbished the pannier rack, and cleaned and oiled the chain. Since then I have been using it for little shopping trips and have also fitted a child seat to the back and have been really enjoying going for little rides with my daughter on the back.

I was noticing quite a lot of noise from the chain, so I checked the derailleurs, and found that the rear was screwed into the dropout slightly wonky, so that the cage below is sticking out at an angle away from the frame.

I am pretty sure I did this when I was cleaning the bike - I had unscrewed the whole derailleur in order to give it a good brushing (I now realise this was almost certainly unnecessary) and I must have stuffed up the thread when refitting it.

Today's top tip: do not do this.

I bought a 10mm thread tap off ebay and have just been trying to retap the hole, which was fun. I thought I'd done it OK, but the derailleur screw just won't tighten - I think the thread is gone for good. I am wondering if it worth trying to use some horrendous glue to try to bind the screw in there permanently?

Anyway, I stuffed up and I'm not really expecting any solutions (though I would welcome them). I'm posting this here as a warning. Sympathy would be nice, but derision more appropriate. At least the bike didn't really cost anything.

I expect someone will be along to suggest turning it into a fixie :-)

border-rider:
Turn it into a...oh

If it's a decent frame, have it rethreaded, though this may involve paint damage cos it will involve brazing

If it's a hack you might contemplate using metal-loaded epoxy to stick it in - or if the buggeration isn't so bad, try plumbers' tape.  neither are likely to work though, to be honest :)

The other option is an old-fashioned bolt-on mech hanger like wot bikes often had before dropouts incorporating gear hangers were common.  These have a little bolty thing that secures them into the dropout behind he axle.  I have  a spare one in the bits box, but I'd have to rummage for the bolty bit cos it was missing when I saw it last week.

edit:

One of these

http://www.swinnertoncycles.co.uk/Index-Gear-Hanger-With-Nut-Bolt-Fisaw06gp551.aspx

MSeries:
Rear mech threads are 10mm fine  not M10. Glue it in, what the heck.

francisbarton:
Thanks MV. It's most definitely a hack. I think I will start with some PTFE tape - there is some grip in the thread but not enough to be safe. If not then I will try your excellent suggestion of the epoxy.

I love my fixie but this thing is definitely one for crawling up Gloucestershire hills with 10kg of shopping and 12kg of toddler on board, and I need my granny ring!

mrcharly-YHT:
Sooo - get an M10 bolt?

If you've recut the threads to M10, rather than 10mm fine, maybe a standard M10 will fit?

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