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Three times in the last year I've had rides ended by smashing my mech off a rock (apparently I make poor line choices 😂), and after having to push my bike back to Hayfield from Mam Tor today I'm seriously considering getting a spare mech to keep in my pack. Anyone else ever done this? I have a spare hanger in there already but the bloody thing has been fine every time!
The few times this has happened to me I have done an on the fly single speed conversion. Its not great, but it does get you home faster than a walk
I've tried that but the chain is too slack on one cog and too tight on the other, so it ends up wandering up the cassette and making horrible noises. This then causes the front ring to start to loosen off 😂.
No but I have thought getting Singulator/On-One Doofer or similar. It would be bit lighter and  compatible with all chain widths.
I carry a lot of crap but even i wouldn't take a spare mech, that way madness lies.
A singulator isn't a bad idea but the likelihood of an actual mech surviving in you your bag is slim, assuming the top of your mech is vaguely ok it should work similarly using only the top wheel, if it's not wtf did you do that smashed the mech part irreparably but not the hanger?
Singulator ain't a bad idea as a rescue option! Mech wouldn't have worked for that, it snapped at the pivot point where the spring joins every time.
Doesn't everyone?
Sram?
Shimano. On the plus side, I haven't needed to buy new jockey wheels in a while!
I've still got a spare in the car, but it's a 10 speed and rest of my kit is 11 speed now.
I took one on a trip to the alps when I had my big backpack. Really wasn't needed. Though if I ever did the mega I might consider it, given stories from friends having their mech smashed to pieces from other riders.
But cable ties generally solve most problems, even if you're singlespeeding it for the rest of the ride.
And mech hangers definitely carry.
Suppose it would depend on how long you were riding .If only a couple of hours then maybe not, but if it was an all dayer then probably not a bad shout.
My spare mech sits in Wiggle/CRC's warehouse đŸ™‚ I'll take a spare mech hanger.
Spare Rohloff ftw !
I would concentrate more on changing your riding style if you have trashed 3 in a year. Either looking further ahead, slowing down, learning how to pick a line etc, etc.
I've been riding over 25 years and I have never either myself or been with anyone who has trashed a mech on a ride.
Not in my pack - but always take a spare whenever on go off on a bike trip away from home
I bust my my last mech on wire Mesa In Utah back in March - if I hadn't had a spare in the car I'd have lost a whole day of riding on my trip , maybe more if i couldn't find a bike shop with the right mech in stock
Instead i got back to the car fitted my spare mech and then went off and rode little creek mesa
But i dont carry a spare mech in my pack , I do a have a rear hanger and a spare gear cable though
When I do a stateside Trip I got a bit mental with the spares i take i.e.
Spare Tyre, Rear Mech, front mech, cassette, chain, front and rear shifters, front and rear brakes, spare dropper post, spare saddle, spare spokes, brake pads, gear cables, grips, front chain rings, pedals , rear shock
Ok so everything bar the frame, forks, wheels , headset, stem, bars and BB.....
As I dont want to be messing around trying to buy spare parts if something breaks when im out there, plus most stuff costs a lot more to buy out in the states
What's the point in carrying a spare? You'll probably break that one as well.
Your'e either unlucky or a clumsy git.
I saw one of the seths bike hack videos where he used a couple of cable ties as a chain guide when a component broke, I forget which.
Broken a mech once in my life. Just rigged it up as a single speed and completed the ride. Really no need. The faff of replacing a rear mech, installing it on the trail, setting the limit screws, cutting the cable and it freeyng out everywhere making it almost impossible to thread through the new mech, having to carry some cable cutters on you. Just rig it up as single speed and crack on.
I did for long days out in the Alps (spare for family of 4 all riding together).
Prior to that the previous year we were on a big final day out when eldest lad bent the parallelogram bit of his mech (not his fault - a faulty chain link had started to burst open and jammed the mech just as he was climbing a hill). We salvaged the day by putting my mech on his bike whilst I went singlespeed (I had horizontal dropouts and bolt in hub). Unbelievably the bike shop in the next town we rode through didn't have a Shimano 10 spd mech.....
Even a good singlespeed setup with a full cassette isn't great - if the lower run of the chain gets a sniff of the shift ramps when you get a bit of slack under load then it shifts up one cog, jamming everything solid (happened about 10 times that day).
So in certain rare circumstances I now carry one.
Edit. The actual mech swap took 15 minutes vs the 5 hour day we salvaged - hardly a faff, and not sure why cable cutters etc would be required - tug on the cable and the end cap falls off.
No but I always have one in the tool box at races when I'm on a geared bike. Needed it once so far, didn't cost that much time, run the uphill, freewheel the down, dump it in the pits and do a lap on the other bike while helpers swapped it over. Too big and bulky to carry on a ride though, would rather use that space for more food or dry gloves and where do you draw the line with carrying spares? Broke a lockout lever once, wasn't carrying one of those either.
Carry a few cable ties and 50mm of alkathene pipe to make a chain tensioner for if you break a mech and want to change to singlespeed (hardtail only)
Maybe the title of thread should be "Anyone seen sense yet and got rid of their derailleur?" đŸ™‚
Derailleurs, brilliant for road bikes, but a daft temporary fixture for anything that's going near rocks, dense scrub, and on a bike more prone to being crashed.
That they last so well on an mtb is a tribute to the quality of the manufacturing, but put something in the line of danger, and danger will befall.
When enough of you stop buying them then the manufacturers will respond with something more suitable.
No, not singlespeed. đŸ™‚
Derailleurs, brilliant for road bikes, but a daft temporary fixture for anything that’s going near rocks, dense scrub, and on a bike more prone to being crashed.
That they last so well on an mtb is a tribute to the quality of the manufacturing, but put something in the line of danger, and danger will befall.
Now some of that might ring true if your bashing through ankle deep undergrowth a lot of the time - most people are not, most of the time my mech is behind my foot which is a nice guide to not hitting it, unless it's at the very top end it tucks up under the chainstay out the way.
It is a testament to learning and improving designs that we have got to a stable and robust product that works well enough for the desire for gearboxes and intricate solutions to have wandered off into a corner.
As for the OP look where you are going!!
Last time my rear mech broke the chain was beyond use as well. If your chain is still usable you're not trying hard enough! đŸ˜‰
Ones mechanic bring out the spare bike nowadays.
Last time it happened I was able to scoot down to 18 bikes and get a replacement and keep riding, but they didn't have any in stock yesterday. Unfortunately the smash happened at pretty much the furthest point from the car, hence my muttering to myself on the 10k walk back that I wasn't bloody well doing this again 😂. Have ordered a 2nd one and will probably keep it in the car, though if I'm doing any long out and backs I might stick it in my pack.
In my defence, yesterday's smash came when I had the choice of 2 ruts on a fairly steep section or trying to hop out of the rut i was already in onto a higher line. Couldn't see what was in the one I chose til I was already committed, unfortunately it was a fairly securely planted fence post type thing (no idea what it was doing there) at just the right place to smack my mech 🙄😂.