I have signed up for Wild Wales Challenge 2013, which takes place in Bala on Bank Holiday Weekend. The ides of this training ride was to hit as many big climbs as possible. However, on my second climb of the morning, i ran into trouble with my gears. After the chain came off for the third or fourth time, i looked down to find the rear derailleur hanging off.
I was alone, at the top of a welsh mountain with a broken bike. I managed to strap it to the frame using a spare inner tube, and freewheeled back down to the closest town and ordered a taxi to take me back to my car.
I thought i had killed the bike. My bike knowledge isnt that great just yet as I havent been riding that long. It turns out this was a failsafe called a Derailleur Hanger, which are desgined to snap under increased load so that neither the derailleur or the frame get bent in the event of shock or other damage, in this case caused by the yanking of an unconnected chain.
Fast forward a few days and I have fixed this all myself. You can buy Hangers online, there are thousands to choose from, so get the one suited to your bike.
In my case, it was as simple as using a 5mm allen key to take off the broken piece from the derailleur and a smaller one to release the other piece from the frame via two tiny allen bolts. Fasten it nice and tightly together and voila, back from the dead!
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