Rear derailleur life expectancy

[BEC111]

I’m curious. After about 5500 miles, the derailleur of my Vado SL (Shimano Deore 10 speed) no longer shifts consistently. Sometimes it can’t shift to the smallest cog other times the largest. Sometimes it won’t upshift, others it won’t downshift. I spent quite a bit of time with the mechanic at my LBS (Conte’s Vienna VA) making all the usual adjustments to no avail.

The cassette is and chain are in good condition, clean and adequately lubricated. The mechanic believes that the main spring is the point of failure. It’s lost its springiness. Thus I’ll need a new one. We also discovered that the cap over the mechanism on the shifter had fallen off. That’s not urgent, but also not really replaceable, so a new shifter is probably needed.

Does 5500 miles seem a reasonable lifetime? Any other comments, welcome.

 

[fooferdoggie]

they seems to last about forever. usually its the cable and or cable housing that wear out. the deore on my bulls has gone 14,000 miles without any issues. I doubt it was wear.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

As foofer said, a good derailleur holds forever unless it is mistreated.

 

[Sparky731]

Check the teeth on your cassette. A worn gear on the cassette is a much more likely cause of shifting problems.

 

[6zfshdb]

This won't help you now but going forward, it's always best to leave the derailleur in the highest gear (chain on smallest cog) during storage. This relaxes the spring and can help it retain it's strength over time.

 

[PDoz]

Deore 10 sp are pretty tough , but if you hadn't noticed the mech cap falling off then anything could have gotten in there! It's a relatively cheap part to replace - especially when you consider the consequences of throwing the chain at speed.

I'm assuming the lbs checked the hanger wasn't bent ? Our

 

[PDoz]

This won't help you now but going forward, it's always best to leave the derailleur in the highest gear (chain on smallest cog) during storage. This relaxes the spring and can help it retain it's strength over time.

Motors cost more than derailleurs to replace - are you starting off in the highest gear each ride ?

 

[Brendon@OEB]

Did they change the cable and housing too? How much stretch on the chain? When was the cassette replaced? How do the teeth on the pulley/jockey wheels look?

Way too many variables to blame the least failure prone part.

 

[BEC111]

they seems to last about forever. usually its the cable and or cable housing that wear out. the deore on my bulls has gone 14,000 miles without any issues. I doubt it was wear.

Your response is why I asked the question. He spent quite a while working on the cable, checking to see if it traveled smoothly through the frame, and so forth. Not a problem. Checked and adjusted the cable tension both at the shifter and at the derailleur. No luck

I’m curious. After about 5500 miles, the derailleur of my Vado SL (Shimano Deore 10 speed) no longer shifts consistently. Sometimes it can’t shift to the smallest cog other times the largest. Sometimes it won’t upshift, others it won’t downshift. I spent quite a bit of time with the mechanic at my LBS (Conte’s Vienna VA) making all the usual adjustments to no avail.

The cassette is and chain are in good condition, clean and adequately lubricated. The mechanic believes that the main spring is the point of failure. It’s lost its springiness. Thus I’ll need a new one. We also discovered that the cap over the mechanism on the shifter had fallen off. That’s not urgent, but also not really replaceable, so a new shifter is probably needed.

Does 5500 miles seem a reasonable lifetime? Any other comments, welcome.

Thanks for all the replies so far. They’re why I posted.

The mechanic checked cable status, and on my first visit it seemed to help. (At first, the problem was downshifting from the higher, not highest, gears. He adjusted the cable tension and on a test ride in the parking lot and during the 15 mile ride home seemed ok. I took a 40 mile ride two days later and shifting started to become a challenge late in the ride. When I went out yesterday I couldn’t upshift into the highest gears. So I went back to the LBS.

As several of you pointed out, I was concerned the cassette was worn or the chain stretched. No dice. They are fine. I’ve been conscientious in maintaining the drive train So it’s pretty clean and lubed.

The hanger was a little bent, so I’m coming to the conclusion that some of the harder gravel rides, trail dust and the occasional ride on the hitch rack may have shaken the derailleur out of alignment and subsequent mileage have stressed spring, etc. I like the idea of storing on the highest gear. I’ll start that practice.

So, I’ll be ordering a new derailleur and shifter so both can be installed and indexed, etc together and only once. We’ll see what happens in a week or so.

 

[fooferdoggie]

This won't help you now but going forward, it's always best to leave the derailleur in the highest gear (chain on smallest cog) during storage. This relaxes the spring and can help it retain it's strength over time.

no thats not a issue I have stored my bikes in the larger cog for years without issues. it would make starting out a real pain in the ass too.

 

[PDoz]

Order a new hanger as well . Whilst 10 sp deore are reasonably tolerant of bent hangers, you'll never quite get crisp shifting . You can keep the old one as a spare.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Order a new hanger as well . Whilst 10 sp deore are reasonably tolerant of bent hangers, you'll never quite get crisp shifting . You can keep the old one as a spare.

Definitely something to consider. The pantograph bearings on my bike's original Shimano Alivio derailleur failed at 900 miles. Similar symptoms. Not a high-quality derailleur, to be sure, but not complete junk, either. My sand- and salt-rich coastal enviroment didn't help, but the mechanic found a slightly bent hanger and blamed the early demise mostly on that.

I've also seen at least 2 reports of bent hangers on EBR in the last year. As I recall, symptoms similar to yours and mine in both cases.

To my knowledge, my bike's never been hit or dropped. How the hanger got bent is beyond me. Maybe in shipping? (Never saw the box.)

 

[6zfshdb]

Motors cost more than derailleurs to replace - are you starting off in the highest gear each ride ?

Yeah, starting off in high gear is a pain. It does put a lot of strain on the drivetrain with a mid drive. It isn't much of an issue with a hub though.

I don't suggest you leave your bike in high gear after every ride, just during long term storage. I usually do it during the Winter months. Before my first ride of the season, I spin the crank by hand and shift gears before removing the bike from the rack.

 

[PDoz]

I've also seen at least 2 reports of bent hangers on EBR in the last year. As I recall, symptoms similar to yours and mine in both cases.

To my knowledge, my bike's never been hit or dropped. How the hanger got bent is beyond me. Maybe in shipping? (Never saw the box.)

It takes a fair amount of force to bend a hanger - for perspective, we pick up sticks 2/3 x each ride - ie a stick gets jammed in the derailleur and we try and stop before that stick catches on something else. Like a spoke or chainstay. Busted plenty of spokes this way, but we only bend 1/2 hangers a year ( on 4 bikes) . Most of the time I can get it reasonably functional with my hanger straightening tool , but I've also snapped 2 hangers and turned one into a deformed S in the past.....so I carry a spare.

 

[6zfshdb]

The OEM derailleur hanger on my bike would bend if I looked at it wrong. It happened so often, I spent the $$ and bought the Park alignment tool:

Amazon.com

The Hanger eventually broke completely and I replaced it with one from Wolftooth:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UP0ZB7C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1

I should have done it in the first place. Once installed, I haven't had to adjust it for 2 seasons now. The expensive Park alignment tool sits on the shelf gathering dust.

 

[Brendon@OEB]

Your response is why I asked the question. He spent quite a while working on the cable, checking to see if it traveled smoothly through the frame, and so forth. Not a problem. Checked and adjusted the cable tension both at the shifter and at the derailleur. No luck

Thanks for all the replies so far. They’re why I posted.

The mechanic checked cable status, and on my first visit it seemed to help. (At first, the problem was downshifting from the higher, not highest, gears. He adjusted the cable tension and on a test ride in the parking lot and during the 15 mile ride home seemed ok. I took a 40 mile ride two days later and shifting started to become a challenge late in the ride. When I went out yesterday I couldn’t upshift into the highest gears. So I went back to the LBS.

As several of you pointed out, I was concerned the cassette was worn or the chain stretched. No dice. They are fine. I’ve been conscientious in maintaining the drive train So it’s pretty clean and lubed.

The hanger was a little bent, so I’m coming to the conclusion that some of the harder gravel rides, trail dust and the occasional ride on the hitch rack may have shaken the derailleur out of alignment and subsequent mileage have stressed spring, etc. I like the idea of storing on the highest gear. I’ll start that practice.

So, I’ll be ordering a new derailleur and shifter so both can be installed and indexed, etc together and only once. We’ll see what happens in a week or so.

5k miles on the original cassette is suspect. If they install those new parts a new cable and housing is required too. The fact that they didn't replacement is a key suspect, it's a cheap wear item, replace before you "think" you need it.

 

[fooferdoggie]

5k miles on the original cassette is suspect. If they install those new parts a new cable and housing is required too. The fact that they didn't replacement is a key suspect, it's a cheap wear item, replace before you "think" you need it.

cassettes can really last my fist bosch powered bike I got 10,000 on the first cassette it was getting a bit rough then the chain change the chainring started jamming, so I replaced the whole drivetrain in one go new chainring cassette chain and jockey wheels.

 

[Catalyzt]

This is probably something else you or your mechanic already thought of, but at one point, I was having shifting problems with the lowest gears (another Deore here) and started fiddling around with derailleur adjustments with no joy. Slightly different problem-- only on the lowest gears, and it was not just a shifting problem, but also gear slippage. Couldn't figure it out. Kept riding for weeks, sometimes it seemed okay, but not for long...

Turned out the quick release for the rear hub was loose! Tightened it up, readjusted the cable length and settings on the derailleur (which I had screwed up during troubleshooting.) I can't believe I didn't notice the quick release was open for that long-- how would I not see that?!-- and my theory is that at first, it wasn't open. As the screw opposite the release got looser and looser, and eventually it popped open from vibration. Or the bike was desperately trying to get my attention before the wheel fell off. Of course, I don't know a thing about the Vado SL's rear axle or hub.

It's amazing I haven't died sometime over the last three years.

 

[fooferdoggie]

This is probably something else you or your mechanic already thought of, but at one point, I was having shifting problems with the lowest gears (another Deore here) and started fiddling around with derailleur adjustments with no joy. Slightly different problem-- only on the lowest gears, and it was not just a shifting problem, but also gear slippage. Couldn't figure it out. Kept riding for weeks, sometimes it seemed okay, but not for long...

Turned out the quick release for the rear hub was loose! Tightened it up, readjusted the cable length and settings on the derailleur (which I had screwed up during troubleshooting.) I can't believe I didn't notice the quick release was open for that long-- how would I not see that?!-- and my theory is that at first, it wasn't open. As the screw opposite the release got looser and looser, and eventually it popped open from vibration. Or the bike was desperately trying to get my attention before the wheel fell off. Of course, I don't know a thing about the Vado SL's rear axle or hub.

It's amazing I haven't died sometime over the last three years.

ya s*it like that can happen. I really had an issue of them coming loose on my bikes the front wheel on our tandem came loose andI was wondering why breaking was so noisy.

 

[BEC111]

An update.

My LBS made a yeoman’s effort to fix this by adjusting the derailleur to no avail. After eliminating other variables, the diagnosis is that the derailleur spring is worn out. It seems to be a somewhat common problem with this model of Deore derailleur.

There was a second issue - the cap over the mechanism on the shifter fell of at some point.

The shop ordered the two parts, but the wrong shifter was selected so needed to be reordered. The new derailleur was installed and shifting sort of works, but more adjustments are needed. Since installing the shifter will require more adjustment, I will have to wait a few more days To see if all of these efforts will work out.

One positive result and a good indicator of the need to adjust the derailleur is that the bike rides more smoothly with a touch more speed. That might be psychological. We’ll see.