Is my derailleur toast ?

[cyberknight]

Claris rear derailleur on my usual commuter bike is about 5 years old now and has been ridden through all weathers and a lot of miles has developed play in the the jockey wheel cage so its not hanging straight even though the rest of the RD works and there is no pley where its mounted to the hanger , when in the easiest gear in the small front ring it touches the spokes and if i adjust the L stop i cant get the that gear .The mech hanger is straight ( i checked ) .
The jockey wheels are practically round with small points
AFAIK i you cant buy replacement cages for claris and i guess its not worth it as you can pick up replacements fairly cheaply .

 

[Oldhippy]

You can buy new jockey wheels.

 

[cyberknight]

You can buy new jockey wheels.

i already replaced them but if the cage bushing (?) is toast im not sure its worth it .

 

[fossyant]

Worn out

 

[bikingdad90]

It could be more economical to pick up a Sensah Reflex groupset or a partial Claris groupset than to get a new rear mech on its own.

 

[cyberknight]

It could be more economical to pick up a Sensah Reflex groupset or a partial Claris groupset than to get a new rear mech on its own.

i do a a nearly new RD on the weigh cx im planning to strip as the bike although nice is whats causing my knee problem.

 

[I like Skol]

What's your point? Your rear mech is clearly worn out and you're asking if it's worn out?

 

[Drago]

Its more worn than Hugh Heffner's favourite condom.

 

[cyberknight]

What's your point? Your rear mech is clearly worn out and you're asking if it's worn out?

I was asking for confirmation of my assessment, why the attitude?

 

[silva]

That's a not a - that's why.

 

[si_c]

You could try and bend the cage back into position, but if the hanger is straight and it's touching the spokes that's a stop-riding with it for me. I had to replace a Sora RD on my commuter as crash damage caused much the same issue with the cage reaching inward from where it should. It is nominally repairable - you can look up the parts for a new cage online, but realistically it's going to be more expensive to do that and the Claris cages are less likely to be in stock than say Dura-Ace.

You can replace it with any Shimano 7-9 speed derailleur, but not the new Cues ones. SJS have Claris long and short cage derailleurs in stock for less than £25. You can salvage the new jockey wheels as well and put them on a shelf til needed.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

P spring may just need replacing.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/gear-spares/shimano-alivio-rdmc12-ptension-spring-y5uf14000/

Exploded diagram

https://www.sjscycles.com/Drawings/Shimano/Shimano_Alivio_RD-MC12_RevB_Tech_Doc.pdf

 

[cyberknight]

You could try and bend the cage back into position, but if the hanger is straight and it's touching the spokes that's a stop-riding with it for me. I had to replace a Sora RD on my commuter as crash damage caused much the same issue with the cage reaching inward from where it should. It is nominally repairable - you can look up the parts for a new cage online, but realistically it's going to be more expensive to do that and the Claris cages are less likely to be in stock than say Dura-Ace.

You can replace it with any Shimano 7-9 speed derailleur, but not the new Cues ones. SJS have Claris long and short cage derailleurs in stock for less than £25. You can salvage the new jockey wheels as well and put them on a shelf til needed.

its not so much bent as wobbly where it goes into the derailleur body

 

[si_c]

its not so much bent as wobbly where it goes into the derailleur body

Yeah, it's probably the spring assembly as @Ming the Merciless says, you can get the springs individually on the MTB derailleurs, but not for road, you need a B axle assembly kit (about £10ish I think). If you know which claris derailleur you have (2200,2300,2400 or R2000) then you can find the parts breakdown and the part number. SJS don't have any in stock and they are my go to for shimano small parts. I have just done a quick search and seen some for R2000 on ebay though.

Edit to add: I'm usually a big proponent of repair, and I likely would repair this at some point, but for a commuter I'd still get an entire derailleur as well - reliability being an issue.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

you need a B axle

Depends on where the looseness is. I took it to be the P pivot rather than the B pivot. Both have springs in the assembly either way.