average lifespan of a rear derailleur

I bought a used but never assembled performer recumbent bike (one of 2 the guy was selling) and apparently he mixed the components- I got a sram x5 derailleur and a sram attack shifter (meant for shimano derailleur). Since I have mostly shimano stuff, I used a miscroshift der (actually a rebranded performance forte der. I got 10,000 miles on that before the pivots had been worn to the point of giving very sloppyy shifting. I then went up a grade to the xe marvo der. and am now another 20,000 miles further down the road with the der approaching the same worn pivots. since I haven't used a shimano deore on it (9sp BTW), am considering using one - nother 10 dollars or so more money for the deore. Am I expecting too much in mileage for a rear derailleur?I ride in sunny southern california on riverbed mup trails- typically about 150 miles/week. The trails are swept once a week so there's always a fine grit that's deposited on the bike and I'm pretty good on the maintanence of the bike so the wear isn't from abuse or neglect. Thanks, Pat

On 1/30/2018 6:56 AM, patrick wrote:
I bought a used but never assembled performer recumbent bike (one of 2 the guy was selling) and apparently he mixed the components- I got a sram x5 derailleur and a sram attack shifter (meant for shimano derailleur). Since I have mostly shimano stuff, I used a miscroshift der (actually a rebranded performance forte der. I got 10,000 miles on that before the pivots had been worn to the point of giving very sloppyy shifting. I then went up a grade to the xe marvo der. and am now another 20,000 miles further down the road with the der approaching the same worn pivots. since I haven't used a shimano deore on it (9sp BTW), am considering using one - nother 10 dollars or so more money for the deore. Am I expecting too much in mileage for a rear derailleur?I ride in sunny southern california on riverbed mup trails- typically about 150 miles/week. The trails are swept once a week so there's always a fine grit that's deposited on the bike and I'm pretty good on the maintanence of the b
ike so the wear isn't from abuse or neglect. Thanks, Pat



Deore are better than most in longevity, about as tough a
changer as there is nowadays.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On 1/30/2018 6:11 AM, AMuzi wrote:
On 1/30/2018 6:56 AM, patrick wrote:
I bought a used but never assembledÂ* performer recumbent bike (one of
2 the guy was selling) and apparently he mixed the components- I got
aÂ* sram x5 derailleur and a sram attack shifter (meant for shimano
derailleur). Since I have mostly shimano stuff, IÂ* used a miscroshift
der (actually a rebranded performance forte der. I got 10,000 miles on
that before the pivots had been worn to the point of giving very
sloppyy shifting. I then went up a grade to the xe marvo der. and am
now another 20,000 miles further down the road with the der
approaching the same worn pivots. since I haven't used a shimano deore
on it (9sp BTW), am considering using one - nother 10 dollars or so
more money for the deore. Am I expecting too much in mileage for a
rear derailleur?I ride in sunny southern california on riverbed mup
trails- typically about 150 miles/week. The trails are swept once a
week so there's always a fine grit that's depositedÂ* on the bike and
I'm pretty good on the maintanence of the b
ike so the wear isn't from abuse or neglect.Â*Â*Â* Thanks, Pat



Deore are better than most in longevity, about as tough a changer as
there is nowadays.

I had a Deore front shifter fail after only twelve years. Sounds like a
long time, but it's on a mountain bike that I probably rode not more
than 500 miles.

sms wrote:

Deore are better than most in longevity,
about as tough a changer as there
is nowadays.

I had a Deore front shifter fail after only
twelve years. Sounds like a long time, but
it's on a mountain bike that I probably rode
not more than 500 miles.

Well, when you speak of how long something will
last on a bike, do you typically refer to time,
distance, riding style, weather conditions, all
of the above, or something else?

--
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

On 1/30/2018 11:32 AM, Emanuel Berg wrote:
sms wrote:

Deore are better than most in longevity,
about as tough a changer as there
is nowadays.

I had a Deore front shifter fail after only
twelve years. Sounds like a long time, but
it's on a mountain bike that I probably rode
not more than 500 miles.

Well, when you speak of how long something will
last on a bike, do you typically refer to time,
distance, riding style, weather conditions, all
of the above, or something else?

I'd say all of the above, which makes the concept of average life pretty
meaningless. I'd expect the low end of the scale - except for mountain
bikes - would be Jay Beattie's everyday commuting including steep hills
and some forest paths in all kinds of weather. I'd expect the high end
would be, well, a guy who rode only on level trails in nice dry Southern
California.

Also, the number of speeds makes a difference. I've got one bike whose
derailleur pivots are really sloppy. But it's used mostly for utility
trips, and it shifts a mere five-speed freewheel. As long as the chain
gets vaguely near the proper cog, all is well. Add four to six extra
cogs to the pile and things get fussier back there.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Frank Krygowski wrote:

Also, the number of speeds makes
a difference. I've got one bike whose
derailleur pivots are really sloppy. But it's
used mostly for utility trips, and it shifts
a mere five-speed freewheel. As long as the
chain gets vaguely near the proper cog, all
is well.

OK, because of the wider chain and sprockets?

I sometimes see Monark steel bikes from the
80's (?) which have Shimano Positron 2x5 with
two parallel wires from levers on the
down tube. Those look pretty robust to me.

Add four to six extra cogs to the pile and
things get fussier back there.

Again, is this because of the smaller
components, or the chain angle, or that
shifting is all the more frequent when there is
always a "perfect" one just a click away?

--
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

On Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 7:56:37 AM UTC-5, patrick wrote:
I bought a used but never assembled performer recumbent bike (one of 2 the guy was selling) and apparently he mixed the components- I got a sram x5 derailleur and a sram attack shifter (meant for shimano derailleur). Since I have mostly shimano stuff, I used a miscroshift der (actually a rebranded performance forte der. I got 10,000 miles on that before the pivots had been worn to the point of giving very sloppyy shifting. I then went up a grade to the xe marvo der. and am now another 20,000 miles further down the road with the der approaching the same worn pivots. since I haven't used a shimano deore on it (9sp BTW), am considering using one - nother 10 dollars or so more money for the deore. Am I expecting too much in mileage for a rear derailleur?I ride in sunny southern california on riverbed mup trails- typically about 150 miles/week. The trails are swept once a week so there's always a fine grit that's deposited on the bike and I'm pretty good on the maintanence of the bike so the wear isn't from abuse or neglect. Thanks, Pat

I have a Campagnolo Nuovo Record that I bought in 1974. It still shifts
just as badly after all these years. (I have had to replace its jockey
wheels.)
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO

On 1/30/2018 3:10 PM, wrote:
On Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 7:56:37 AM UTC-5, patrick wrote:
I bought a used but never assembled performer recumbent bike (one of 2 the guy was selling) and apparently he mixed the components- I got a sram x5 derailleur and a sram attack shifter (meant for shimano derailleur). Since I have mostly shimano stuff, I used a miscroshift der (actually a rebranded performance forte der. I got 10,000 miles on that before the pivots had been worn to the point of giving very sloppyy shifting. I then went up a grade to the xe marvo der. and am now another 20,000 miles further down the road with the der approaching the same worn pivots. since I haven't used a shimano deore on it (9sp BTW), am considering using one - nother 10 dollars or so more money for the deore. Am I expecting too much in mileage for a rear derailleur?I ride in sunny southern california on riverbed mup trails- typically about 150 miles/week. The trails are swept once a week so there's always a fine grit that's deposited on the bike and I'm pretty good on the maintanence of the
bike so the wear isn't from abuse or neglect. Thanks, Pat

I have a Campagnolo Nuovo Record that I bought in 1974. It still shifts
just as badly after all these years. (I have had to replace its jockey
wheels.)

Quoting my assembly warehouse manager Lorri Spitz around
1984/5, the era of Suntour/Shimano innovation, "Campagnolo
doesn't shift. But it doesn't shift _forever_."


--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 4:17:16 PM UTC-5, AMuzi wrote:
On 1/30/2018 3:10 PM, wrote:

I have a Campagnolo Nuovo Record that I bought in 1974. It still shifts
just as badly after all these years. (I have had to replace its jockey
wheels.)

Quoting my assembly warehouse manager Lorri Spitz around
1984/5, the era of Suntour/Shimano innovation, "Campagnolo
doesn't shift. But it doesn't shift _forever_."


--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO

On 1/30/2018 2:33 PM, Emanuel Berg wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:

Also, the number of speeds makes
a difference. I've got one bike whose
derailleur pivots are really sloppy. But it's
used mostly for utility trips, and it shifts
a mere five-speed freewheel. As long as the
chain gets vaguely near the proper cog, all
is well.

OK, because of the wider chain and sprockets?

I sometimes see Monark steel bikes from the
80's (?) which have Shimano Positron 2x5 with
two parallel wires from levers on the
down tube. Those look pretty robust to me.

Add four to six extra cogs to the pile and
things get fussier back there.

Again, is this because of the smaller
components, or the chain angle, or that
shifting is all the more frequent when there is
always a "perfect" one just a click away?

I believe it's because with fewer speeds, there's usually more space
between the cogs.

I have one folding bike that has nine rear cogs and index shifting. I
find that folding and unfolding the bike sometimes upsets the index
shifting for a while, until things settle down. I assume it's because of
the flexing of the long shift cable housings. I doubt that would make a
practical difference if the cogs were spaced wider, with fewer speeds.


--
- Frank Krygowski