Rear derailleur hanger alignment tools - recommendations?

[Harpoon]

Has anyone got one of these in their home toolbox?

A Park DAG 2.2 is around £65, the DAG 3 around £100. The Abbey version looks lovely but so it should be for over £200. However, Amazon has a random assortment of unknown Chinese brands from £25 - can anyone recommend one they have?

As background, the drivetrain on my winter bike self destructed back in November 2024. I think I posted a picture in the "Photo's from today's ride" thread but I'm not sure what started the disaster. End result was a sheared hanger, trashed rear mech (I never found the jockey wheels and cage) and a snapped + bent chain.

I got all the bits in to fix it but then life got in the way. This where having multiple bikes is a very good idea, as I kept riding other bikes. Over the past week I've finally got round to sorting it. However, having replaced all the items below with brand new ones, I can't get the shift from smallest to next smallest on the back spot on.

• Rear mech' hanger
• Full cable outer from the shifter to the rear mech
• Gear cable
• Cassette
• Chain
• Rear derailleur

I'm happy with the limit screws and cable tension as shifting across the rest of the cassette is spot on (for both front chainrings). If I shift up a single click from the smallest cog, it does shift quickly but is very noisy and the chain jumps. Normally at this point I'd just use the barrel adjuster on the mech to fine tune the position until the chain is quiet. However, there doesn't seem to be a sweet spot and as you continue to turn the adjuster, the chain starts to try to jump to the 3rd cog on the cassette. Back the adjuster off again and I end up with the chain trying to go down to the smallest cog again.

Thus I'm wondering if the new hanger or frame isn't straight. I've taken the hanger back off and inspected it - to my Mark I eyeball it looks good but could still be out. I could chuck the bike at the LBS but £30 on a no-name tool is probably cheaper. Heck, an hour's LBS labour these days is probably close to the Park version...

[frisbee]

I straightened the hanger of a friend's bike using a cheap tool after he had a low speed tumble.

I had never done it before, the gears were crap and impossible to setup before, a piece of piss to afterwards. The tool was crude but easy to work out how to use, I don't feel any urge to get a better one.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Brand new hanger should be straight and the rear end of the frame should be (thats the role of the hanger to be the sacrificial lamb!).

As long as it looks straight to the eye, in my experience thats enough for the gears to be setup correctly. New mech correct etc?

[Lotobear]

I just put them in the vice, give them a few taps, eye them up then check them on a flat steel plate - never understood the need for these 'special' tools

[nickfrog]

I have this one at £20. It's excellent functionally and really well built.

It's a really useful to have in the box.

https://ebay.us/m/rghpc7

Edited by nickfrog on Tuesday 20th January 09:12

[Harpoon]

Original rear mech was from CRC back in 2018 when I built the bike from scratch.

CRC said:

Shimano Tiagra 4700 10 Speed Rear Mech
Black, Medium Cage - sku499622

Replacement came from eBay from a seller called Tri Sport Resort, which IIRC, was Wiggle's outlet:

ebay said:

Shimano Tiagra RD-4700 10 Speed GS Rear Derailleur

New cassette is a Tiagra/HG500 (11-32) and the (unchanged) shifters are RS405. Gear cable outer I got from an LBS as it's a full run from shifter to mech. Gear cable was Shimano, new KMC chain from Amazon. Chain I sized using big/big plus 2 links.

I got the new hanger from Dolan (Dolan RDX alloy frame) as I think they were cheaper than BETD at the time.

[TheDrownedApe]

Lotobear said:

I just put them in the vice, give them a few taps, eye them up then check them on a flat steel plate - never understood the need for these 'special' tools

this all day long

[Harpoon]

I did take a picture of the new hanger when I took it off again and it looks okay, but I'll do it again at the weekend to give it a squeeze in a vice.

[Harpoon]

Update time...

Amazon tempted me with the Park DAG 3 for £99 but instead I splashed a whole twenty quid on the Toopre (who?) DAG from eBay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/227070607865

It arrived on Saturday and it looks like a clone (rip off) of the Park DAG 2.2 which is circa £60, so seems a good choice so far.

What it hasn't helped with is why I'm still having a chain alignment / shifting issue in one cog on the cassette - the second smallest. I've put the DAG on the bike twice. Measuring left/right and top/bottom (I rotate the wheel so I'm measuring against the valve location to avoid the wheel being out and introducing another problem) is well within the (IIRC) 4mm tolerance.

Shifting across (up or down) the cassette is fine and is what I would expect for a low-end mechanical groupset (Tiagra). There's no hesitation in moving and I can get into smallest and largest cogs so I don't think it's H or L limit screws. I also don't think it's the B screw (which I've looked at a few times) as wouldn't that impact the smallest cog as well if wrong (jockey wheel too close to the cassette)?

The chain is quiet in the smallest but when shifted to second smallest, it never settles and is noisy. At this point I would normally use the barrel adjuster on the mech' to fine tune and remove the noise but there's no sweet spot. If you go too far one way, the chain drops on the smallest cog (without shifting). Go the other way and it will shift up to the 3rd cog, there's no quiet spot in the middle.

I've taken the cassette off again in case it wasn't seated properly but that's not helped. I've put in a brand new QR skewer to rule that out as well.

Suggestions? Googling turns up lots of threads on Reddit etc which generally point the finger at hanger alignment or worn parts. The only parts of the drivetrain which aren't brand new are the chainset and front mech - everything else is fresh out of the box.

[nickfrog]

It sounds like you've done everything right and have been methodical.

I know the cassette is new but have you inspected the teeth on the second cog to check for any imperfections in their profile? (Supe unlikely).

Also, does that cog look well aligned compared to the ones next door and is the spacing consistent with them?

Is it one block or are they individual sprockets?

If individual, any spacers you might have forgotten? Is it properly seated? (unlikely as quite foolproof but worth a thorough check).

[Harpoon]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I hadn't thought if I'd missed a spacer on the cassette, as there was the main block (one piece), the outer two cogs and lock ring.

So I've checked the Shimano spec' for the HG500 11-32 which matches what I have from memory:



Will whip the cassette off again and have a really good look at the 12T cog. I do have another new 10 speed cassette on the shelf. It's 11-28 so hopefully close enough to see how the chain goes on that.

[Harpoon]

I'm still baffled!

New HG500 12-32 cassette came from Tredz in the week, so I just swapped in on and... still noisy only in the second smallest cog.

I've taken some videos, just need to find somewhere to share them with the end of Imgur for the UK.

More suggestions welcome!

[nickfrog]

B screw adjustment?

Correct chain length as per Shimano's guidelines?

Edited by nickfrog on Sunday 8th February 17:32

[frisbee]

Jockey wheels swapped over or excessively worn?

[Harpoon]

Brand new rear mech so jockey wheels should be good.

Chain is my usual follow of Park's big / big and add two full links (or 2.5 if 2 links is on an inner join which you can't put a quick link on).

I'll revisit the B screw position.

[Tim Cognito]

Hmm odd one.

Is it noisy on the 2nd cog if you have previously shifted up to it as well as down to it?

[Harpoon]

Yup, noisy going in both directions.

Edit to add the shifting is spot on IMO. It shifts in / out of the second cog every time, there just doesn't seem to be a sweet spot when on the second cog - it's noisy and occasional tries to ghost shift to another cog.

I'll upload the videos to YouTube on Monday or Tuesday.

Edited by Harpoon on Sunday 8th February 21:40

[Tim O]

If you want the best then buy the Abbey Tool hanger alignment tool. Beautifully made, a joy to use, it’s the tool the pro mechanics use. I’ve used others and they are all toys in comparison. Bought mine at Sigma Sport, £170, and worth the money.


https://road.cc/content/review/260062-abbey-bike-t...

[peew]

The abbey is really nice.

I have the toopre one, although 4mm at the rim is the spec I'd try and get it down to 1mm. The toopre has a bit of sloppy that you need to take into account

[Tim Cognito]

From the photo above the hanger looks fine. The alignment tools aren't the easiest to use I think you're more likely to make a brand new hanger worse not better if you start trying to bend it.

How about the chain? Could it be fake?