Mounty Gear Guard - any experiences?

[Watchman]

Had a relatively low impact wipeout today but it's resulted in my gears not indexing. I am trying not to give up riding through the winter so I'm looking at solutions for avoiding this in future. I don't like the cage-type derailleur protectors - they look a bit childish - but the Mounty Gear Guard looks quite simple.

Any experiences?





Bit of description:

http://www.bicycletouring101.com/BikeDerailleurPro...

[Beyond Rational]

No experience but I wouldn't want to hit anything with that attached. I rather snap a hanger than whack something that could catch and knock the dropout backwards/snap the skewer. To me it looks like it is bypassing a frame protection device (the hanger) in a way that won't always save the mech anyway. The mountain bike solution is a shadow mech.

[Watchman]

Thanks. I hadn't considered that. I'm glad I asked.

[snotrag]

Get this asked a lot at work.

Mech hangers are sacrificial.
Designed to bend and break and save the expensive bits.
Best way to prevent you having a problem in the future is to buy a spare mech hanger (<£10) and stick it in your pack.

[Watchman]

Yes, I never really thought of it like that.

I suppose I'm more irked at having to get my gears looked at again by my LBS - they're not indexing properly again and I just can't resolve it myself. It's not that it's expensive (only a tenner) but it's just a PITA to have to take the bike to them again.

[BalhamBadger]

You could get yourself a Park DAG-2 derailleur hanger alignment tool from ebay for about £40. Also allows you to straighten correct any mis-alignment. If you're reasonably competent at tuning your gears you'd soon make back the initial outlay.

[Watchman]

I could yeah. Truth is, I'm a competent amateur car mechanic and I can do most things on bikes too but I've never had much luck in getting derailleurs to engage with that rifle-bolt action you expect. I just can't get them to index as nicely as my LBS can.

I'd rather try and protect against them getting knocked than repair them afterwards. I concede that the Mounty Gear Guard I linked-to originally is probably a bad idea on an aluminium frame but this is the second time I've knocked them and ruined the indexing now. It doesn't seem to take much to throw them out of whack.

[Watchman]

Just had my gears sorted by my LBS - hanger was "out" but he had a tool to align it. They engage like a rifle bolt again. Very satisfying and worth a tenner easily.

[BalhamBadger]

Watchman said:

Just had my gears sorted by my LBS - hanger was "out" but he had a tool to align it. They engage like a rifle bolt again. Very satisfying and worth a tenner easily.

Sounds good, really nice when the gears work seamlessly.

Despite recommending the tool earlier I'd be tempted to do the same myself occasionally. Problem is the bike shops round here have a two week waiting list and act like they're doing you a massive favour by even looking at your bike. Sounds like you've got a good one.

[Watchman]

BalhamBadger said:

Sounds good, really nice when the gears work seamlessly.

Despite recommending the tool earlier I'd be tempted to do the same myself occasionally. Problem is the bike shops round here have a two week waiting list and act like they're doing you a massive favour by even looking at your bike. Sounds like you've got a good one.

Well, this is exactly the problem with the more popular LBS around here. They're good, no doubt, but the fact that you can get the same quality service (at least) with the one I went to today WITHOUT having to wait makes them worth twice the price (except I think they're cheaper).

My only fear is whether they will still be around this time next year. Where the popular LBS has a waiting list, the other one is always empty when I turn up.