Replaceable derailleur hangers have outstayed their welcome and I don\u2019t want to see one on a new bike ever again.<\/p>
Having just tested SRAM\u2019s new Red XPLR AXS<\/a> groupset \u2013 which has adopted the American brand\u2019s Universal Derailleur Hanger<\/a> standard \u2013 the shortcomings of traditional, replaceable derailleur hangers have never felt clearer.<\/p> While cyclists often groan at the introduction of new \u2018standards\u2019, UDH delivers on its promises \u2013 chiefly improved robustness, simpler replacements and, above all, more accurate and reliable shifting.<\/p> What\u2019s more, it does all this with no discernable downsides (save from the fact it’s not possible to retro-fit UDH onto most existing bikes).<\/p> So, what are we waiting for? It\u2019s time to consign replaceable derailleur hangers to Room 101 and make UDH the future of cycling.<\/p><\/div><\/div> Back in the heady days of the 1980s and early 90s when I first started to own \u2018proper\u2019 performance road bikes, the king of the hill was still steel.<\/p> As many will know, steel is a great material<\/a> for bike frames and derailleur hangers. It\u2019s \u2018real\u2019, which always helps, but it\u2019s also tough, and it can take a knock or two.<\/p> Should the hanger portion of your steel frame ever get bumped off line, some gentle persuasion can often put things right.<\/p> Should the worst happen and things go catastrophically wrong, steel can also be repaired, and bent or broken dropouts replaced.<\/p> When aluminium came along, and then shortly after carbon fibre, things got complicated. Both aluminium and carbon are tricky to fix \u2013 and they\u2019re expensive. Thus, the sacrificial replaceable derailleur hanger was born.<\/p> If you stacked your bike, these fragile little parts were designed to fail, (hopefully) leaving your expensive frame and derailleur intact.<\/p> That\u2019s all well and good, but it was another bolt-on part that introduced a level of inconsistency that doesn\u2019t gel with the fine margins of setup demanded by modern drivetrains.<\/p> Back in the early days of replaceable hangers, we were dealing with 8- and 9-speed drivetrains, with far greater margin for setup error or hanger alignment issues than modern 11-, 12- or 13-speed systems.<\/p> As freehub widths have largely remained constant, this ever-increasing number of gears has meant sprockets and chains have got progressively narrower, meaning the tolerance for poor setup or an even slightly bent hanger is tiny.<\/p> No matter how expensive your frame or groupset, no bike is safe from the woes of a bent derailleur hanger.<\/p> Even something as simple as a touch too much paint on the interface can throw a replaceable hanger out of alignment.<\/p> What\u2019s worse, practically every frame has its own unique derailleur hanger design. As with bottom brackets<\/a>, there\u2019s no one-size-fits-all hanger that you can find in every bike shop.<\/p> If your hanger gets bent during transport on your way to that cycling holiday of a lifetime, the chances of being able to get a replacement at your destination are slim.<\/p> Ask yourself this: if you needed a new hanger, would you know what to look for and how to get hold of it?<\/p><\/div><\/div> I know many cyclists have had their fingers burned by magical new bike \u2018standards\u2019 that have promised to solve all problems and offer nothing but good times, but UDH isn\u2019t one of those.<\/p> In essence, UDH is simple \u2013 it isn\u2019t a new derailleur hanger at all, it\u2019s a round hole in the driveside dropout.<\/p> Even the laziest frame manufacturers should be able to make a horizontal axle across the rear end of a frame, plus there are no unique parts and nothing to bolt onto the frame that could introduce variances in dimensions.<\/p> Likewise, if you want to run existing rear derailleurs (which don\u2019t all feature direct-mount designs), a threaded insert with a traditional-style hanger is already available \u2013 as seen on the Santa Cruz Stigmata<\/a> and eighth-generation Trek Madone SLR<\/a>.<\/p> Best of all, UDH isn\u2019t frame-specific. As long as the dropouts are right, the same UDH hanger that fits a burly electric mountain bike<\/a> can fit a featherweight road bike<\/a>.<\/p> For shops, this means carrying a single type of hanger to serve all customers with UDH-compatible bikes. For riders of such bikes, it means a vastly increased chance of being able to source a replacement in an emergency.<\/p><\/div><\/div> Unsurprisingly, given the chances of crashing (and damaging your bike\u2019s derailleur hanger) are so much higher, UDH has been rapidly adopted by manufacturers of mountain bikes.<\/p> Uptake on road and gravel bikes has been notably slower, though.<\/p> While that\u2019s set to change with the introduction of SRAM Red XPLR AXS \u2013 which uses a direct-mount rear derailleur \u2013 I can hear many itching to ask \u201cIf UDH is so great, why hasn\u2019t every bike brand adopted it?\u201d<\/p> As with anything, though, trying to get bike brands to agree on a universal standard is like trying to herd cats.<\/p> Pretty much the only thing bike brands can agree on at this point is pedal threads \u2013 every now and again, some genius will even try to reinvent bottle cages<\/a>.<\/p> It\u2019s also true that roadies \u2013 for the most part \u2013 crash less frequently than mountain bikers, and while replaceable derailleur hangers have their faults, many road bike owners have had bigger issues to worry about until recently (such as press-fit bottom brackets<\/a> and integrated cable routing<\/a>).<\/p> With the explosion of interest in all-road<\/a> and gravel bikes<\/a>, though, that\u2019s all changing.<\/p> With a number of major brands committed to making UDH-compatible frames \u2013 including Trek, ENVE, Ridley, Cerv\u00e9lo, Scott, Wilier, Specialized, BMC, Bianchi, Lauf, Colnago and many more \u2013 we could be on the cusp of a great change.<\/p> It\u2019s also fair to say Shimano holds much greater sway over brands than a relatively small company such as SRAM.<\/p> You have to wonder whether, had the Japanese brand invented UDH, we\u2019d even be having this conversation.<\/p>Replaceable hangers were a good fix at the time, but we need to move on<\/h2>
UDH is a new standard, but it should be the only standard<\/h2>
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Why has uptake of UDH been so slow on road and gravel bikes?<\/h2>
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