Ken wrote:

Chalo wrote:

There is a simple, lightweight, reliable and inexpensive device that
prevents just this sort of failure. *It's called a spoke protector,
and it works. *It's cheaper than buying a new bike frame (or
replacement dropout) and sundry parts every so often.

In my case, I don't think a spoke protector would have made a
difference. *The problem was not a maladjusted limit screw. *I believe
it was the pulley cage that went into the spokes. *I would have needed
a spoke protector that was more than half the diameter of the wheel. *

Most of the good sized spoke protectors I deal with at work keep the
derailleur cage from making contact with the spokes. Some of them let
me know this by making a scraping sound when I shift the bike into low
gear on the stand. I reckon a few of these bikes have must have had
limit screw problems ever since they were new, decades ago.

I even installed a minimal plastic ring spoke protector the other day
that _only_ deflected the derailleur cage, not the chain if it were to
fall off the inside of the cluster. That seems like a bad idea, but
surely better than nothing.

For some customers (chiefly pedicabbers), I will modify a big old
metal spoke protector and fit it to their cassette-hubbed wheels with
zip ties at the spoke crossings. This even provides some defense
against a cabbie who just keeps stomping instead of stopping to
investigate a strange noise when climbing a grade with passengers.

Chalo