Straighten/Align Bent Derailleur Hanger Without Special Tool 

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This method is genius!

I can't explain just how useful this video was, and suprisingly easy too! I couldn't believe how bent my derailleur hanger was but now it's as straight as ever, thanks!

My main man! Where is the to thumbs up button. After hours of reindexing, cleaning derailleur and replacing shifter cable. This was th sollution to my skipping gear problem. The smoothness of how the other wheel fits and makes the proces easy is just amazing.

nice vid. great to see you pioneering metric in the us

You just saved me so much money I don't even have. You're my hero today! ; )

Genius! After lots of futzing around, I finally figured out the issue on my derailleur was the hanger and this video is absolutely awesome. A big thank you RJ!

Awesome tip for professional roadside repair! Another tip: for a rough eyeball adjustment, instead of wrench use a L-shaped allen key in the derailleur fastener. No need to remove wheel or derailleur and you can use the cage for reference.

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😀

This is really clever, and uploading this video to RU-vid is a great service. Thanks!

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.

RJ scores again. Great results from this and it saves buying an expensive tool that I would have only needed 3 times in the last 40yrs👍

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!!!

I watched your video in the afternoon and came back to tell you that this method worked like freaking magic. I feel STOKED to have gained this knowledge. Thank you!

I am truly impressed. Simple, clear, perfectly explained and the rear wheel trick is brilliant.

This saved me!!!! I’ve watched so many indexing videos...didn’t think it was bent, with this method...It was clearly bent!!

YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER! I got mine fixed and I don't have to buy those expensive hanger aligners anymore! THANK YOU!

superb idea RJ adding the wheel makes it easy to see it's out and then eyeball it back into place then just check with a ruler thanks RJ your the best !!

This worked like a charm on my Surly Straggler after I dropped it and bent the hanger. Thank you! Keep up the good work, I love your videos 👍

Thank you, this actually worked quite well , I was able to bring a 10mm gap front -rear down to 2mm, now the biggest cog on the cassette runs a ton smoother, RJ you are my hero!

I found this video to be incredibly helpful! The maintenance tips provided were brilliant for keeping my bike running while sticking to a budget. The technique demonstrated in the video worked perfectly, and I quickly got my bike back on the road. Thank you for all your hard work and effort. It is genuinely appreciated.

Thanks for this! Helped me get my 9 sp rd aligned and shifting smoothly through all the gears using the adjustable spanner method. Took three tries but eventually got it to smoothly shift.

Genius. Worked perfectly for me, used the rear wheel on my older mountain bike. My bike was brand new but i suspect derailleur was bent in box shipment

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.

Hi RJ, thank you so much for sharing your incredible knowledge about bike repairs. My son fell off the bike yesterday. I managed to fix it after watching this video. He was so happy he could still go out cycling with his friends today. Best regards, from both of us in New Zealand. 👍

Great tip, fixed my old steel bike which doesn't even have a mech hanger, the derallieur just attaches to the frame, been slightly bent for years, now shifts through an 11 speed cassette with no problem, Thanks again RJ

Great common sense approach to getting this fixed. You showed us how to get by without the tool while also showing us why the $75 tool is much nicer.. Even Park Tool would like this video.

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!!

Thanks for your video. I just used this procedure to straighten the hanger on my Tokul 1 on the weekend and now it shifts perfectly. I didn't have a wrench narrow enough to fit on the nut on the hub so I used a 17 mm socket on the drive side to turn the hub until it was tight on the hanger.

man i've been watching your videos obsessively for months in the process of building a bike straight up from a frame for the first time.. you've been so extremely helpful, this trick just blew my mind. thanks RJ!!

RJ, i just bought some marine grease for my bearings because of you! thanks

Thank you RJ. This is genius, rescued a bike I nearly gave up on. I finally got the index working after straightening the hanger with this method.

Pulled off the rear wheel from my 29er MTB, removed the cassette and screwed the drive side into the hanger on my oldschool 26er MTB. Derailleur hanger straight as a needle. Thank you RJ for sharing this awesome method!

Thanks a lot, it worked perfectly for me!! I found that the hanger was disaligned of 1 cm (not top to down, but sideways). Before the chain would "jump"when applying more power (like sprinting or standing on the pedals uphill), now it is just PERFECT! Thank you again for sharing!!

RJ never cesses to amaze, thanks for sharing

Wow!! This works like a charm. Actual genius RJ. Thanks for sharing this gem. My gears are now shifting silky smooth.

Absolute brilliance. Saved me time and money instantly

You sir are a legend. I've managed to successfully fix my bike up. Keep up the good work!

Awesome! Thank you, sir! Was looking all over my place to look for something that screws in there and must have walked right past my old rear wheel more than hundred of times. It was just there laughing at me :D Also figured out a neat trick to visualize the wheel plane - get a thread and wind it tight over the wheel (the one that's on the bike :) ) in a couple of directions. I was straightening a hanger on a 29" bike with a 26" wheel so I could measure the distance to the thread in all directions. This saved my riding for ~2 months until my replacement hangers arrive from China :o

Another one of the grateful comments, thank you so much for the video! My bike fell over recently, after that shifting got inaccurate and the chain got stuck between cassette and spokes. This method worked really well, only challenge was cross threading, which happened when trying to work with the bike upside down, but in the bike stand I could get it in straight. It took some time to get the distance even because the wheels don't overlap, having a transparent ruler helped a bit when measuring at different places. Eventually it turned out great 👍👍👍!!! Update after a few days of riding: I got the impression that the derailleur is working smoother than ever now, maybe the bike even came with the hanger a little bent in the box. Big thanks for the video!

just bent my hanger this last weekend thanks for this video. Will need to fix it before I can ride again. waiting on a derailleur and chain. thanks rj.

Honestly worked a treat! I use this method all the time.

I was just about to buy the tool and I am glad I found this video!

First thing : amazing trick much more cheaper than the tool itslef Second thing : RJ is never out of Pepsi or Mtn Dew

Just used this to straighten my hanger and it worked great. Thanks for the video

I needed this tutorial fix because last week I crashed on my bike and the derailleur hanger is a little bent towards the cogs. This is a good diy alternative if you don't have special tools

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

Works a treat! I found it hard to measure, and probably only got within 4 or 5mm, but derailleur is now shifting mutch better.

I was convinced that the pivots in my rear derailleur were shot as I felt some play in the cage, the pulleys appeared misaligned, and the chain was a bit noisy and skipped on occasion. I decided to take a look at the hanger- sure enough, it was bent. I would have never thought to bend it with the wheel reversed but the crescent wrench trick worked great! Thanks!

Amazing tip wish I found this earlier because I just ordered a Park Tool Alignment tool. All good since I ride my MTB a fair bit so would be using the tool often but this was such a useful tip will be sharing this with friends who wouldn't need a dedicated tool. Cheers

this is brilliant! fantastic! thanks, RJ! Just tried this and it worked great on my 29er mtb.

Another great tip! Thanks RJ! Learned a lot watching your videos!

I just did this on my SC Nomad2 and found my hanger was way off. Now everything works perfectly. Great hack! thanks.

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

Fantastic video. I was searching the net to deal with this exact problem and your video help tremendously. Thank you for all the tips.

Thanks RJ from Brazil! i did the same and worked pretty well.

The fact you cover alot of troubleshooting i just wached the bent axle video was letting my buddy ride my gt for a while i got it back and its all messed up your honestly better than the big cycling networks on here even parktool had nothing on a bent axle like your a legend

Beautiful. Exactly what I needed.

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.

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

Great call on the rear wheel trick and explanation.

great idea well presented fixed my skipping chain without the need for expensive special tooling . great job

Tks, this saved my day after a not so great alignment by my LBS. Another cool trick to learn too.

This may very well be easier to adjust than with the proper tool. Kudus to the quick thought on this one.

My sons bike had derailleur bent during shipping. With 2 days before Christmas there was no time to order a fancy tool and all bike repair shops were slammed unavailable. Thanks to your video i was able to fix it. Thank you sir.

This is pure genius. Thank you.

This video saved me money. Worked perfectly. Thanks!

I usually think most of these "how to" videos are simply guys wanting to hear themselves talk and pretend they're on TV or something. But in this case, some very good, sound advice!

Thanks a lot for this video, I actually just fixed my "decent" bike with 1x11 setup using the wheel in hanger bodge 😅

Brilliant tip - use it to straighten out my own bent hanger! Thanx

Great vid......and great idea with the spare wheel as a rough gauge, I have straightened one or two hangers by eye with the crescent wrench trick but those were old steel framed bikes which are very "forgiving". For modern aluminum frames/hangers I think I'd let a pro handle it at my LBS.

Brilliant! I used an old axle and lock nuts from a tacoed wheel to check alignment. I secured threaded rod in the drop outs so a long section extending out on the drive side. I then used the axle and rod as winding sticks to see if they were aligned, visually in one direction and with calipers in the other. Not precise but good enough. It didn't dawn on me to just use the wheel as is, probably because it was tacoed. But you gave me an idea. Put the axle back in the old hub and mount a straight edge to the hub face. Thanks.

i used a regular axle, not the quick releasing and it worked great. this fixed my chain from skipping or partly fixed it.

Thanks for this fix using another rear wheel, worked like a charm!

RJ Mc Gyver Guy , strikes Again. Thank you again for solving another of my problems.

this is brilliant, the kind of thing a home mechanic can really use. Most of us are not going to have the extensive specialty tools a pro would have

Flipping the wheel around for when using a wrench for rough bending is a great idea - glad I watched to get that extra nugget of wisdom

Thanks again RJ, This Method worked on my bike today.

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.

Thanks for sharing such a great tip. Easy to do and better accuracy than the crescent wrench eyeballing it fix.

Mind blown. Simple genius technique!

So genius!!! You're the best RJ 👍

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

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.

Absolutely brilliant idea- love it

Very clever and seemingly effective fix! Good job!

Thank You RJ, very practical and easy to follow instructions!

Brilliant. Thanks for this. Saved me replacing any more parts (turned out to be the hanger).

Genius. That has saved me so much time and Money. Thank you.

Great vid! Awesome tip! Never tought of it! Thanks!!

Wow this helped so much!!!! Glad I have a extra rear wheel at hand. Thumbs up!!!

Absolutely fantastic idea! Thanks

used your wheel method many times, thanks for the knowledge

This is a brilliant fix, thank you!

Beyond Amazing! Many Thanks!

Love this video. Thank you!!!

That is an amazing hack. Thanks so much.

Very usefull!! and smart video thanks RJ!

This worked perfectly for me today. Thanks 😊