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review

Gearmechhanger D99 Universal Hanger

8
£14.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Useful emergency ride-saver if you snap your mech hanger out on the road
Weight: 
12g

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Snapping your gear hanger off isn't a vanishingly rare occurrence, and it's one of those things that can pretty much end a ride. The Gearmech D99 is a simple and functional way to get you back in the saddle.

The D99 replaces the nut end of your quick-release skewer, and acts as both the clamping point for the skewer and a place to hang a mech from. Your mech won't be in the same place as it was before you snapped the hanger off; generally you'll find that it's a bit further out, and lower than before. That'll mean some fiddling with the cable to index the shifting, and also means shifts aren't as crisp as there's more space between the jockey wheels and the cassette.

What you're left with is a bike that works, though, even if not quite as well as before. I lost one sprocket from an 11-speed Shimano cassette and I had to work a bit harder with the shifting. But that's infinitely preferable to calling your spouse/parent/friend to pick you up from the arse end of nowhere, or shortening your chain and limping home in whatever gear works as a singlespeed.

It's not as good as carrying a spare hanger that's specifically for your bike, and I know people (people who have a habit of breaking mech hangers) who do precisely that. But assuming all your massive fleet of bikes have quick release wheels it's a handy thing to have in your emergency toolkit, and at 12g you're not going to notice it on the climbs. And if you're riding in a group, it could save the ride for one of your friends. Gearmechhanger also do one that doubles as a beer bottle opener for an extra four quid.

Verdict

Useful emergency ride-saver if you snap your mech hanger out on the road

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Gearmech Hanger D99 Universal Hanger

Size tested: Blue

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Our D99 Emergency hanger , is a great little product to carry in your back pack / seat bag , for when you are out in a group of various makes of bikes , Ideal for any Cycle guides !

Fully CNC machined , this is a versatile little item , that is worth every penny , when you need it out on the trail ... Do not get stranded !

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
10/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
9/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Does a good job. Shifting and mech range isn't perfect but better than the alternative.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Easy to use, good for group rides.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Re-indexing gears, loss of range.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Yes.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 41  Height: 190cm  Weight: 102kg

I usually ride: whatever I'm testing...  My best bike is: Genesis Equilibrium 853

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

 

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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37 comments

Avatar
SideBurn | 9 years ago
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This was not uncommon andybwhite; people used to ride to races carrying their racing wheels . I remember seeing people with aluminium brackets either side of the front hub and their racing wheels attached. Having them dangling from the bars is the low cost/high risk option.
Many years ago we had a riders block (the old style) fall apart. We were in the middle of nowhere, we needed grease and tools. No mobiles then. We pushed him to the first house and got some lard and a screwdriver! We succeeded in re-assembly but the lard was too cold and the block still did not work  20 we took it in turns to pee on the block, warmed it up, happy days  16 No need for spare wheels  4
According to him it was still working weeks later... it would not work these days of course, because few people buy lard....

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andybwhite replied to SideBurn | 9 years ago
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SideBurn wrote:

This was not uncommon andybwhite;....

I know - I used to do it myself.

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andybwhite | 9 years ago
0 likes

I have always found cassettes to be a common failure item. Therefore...

//terrywassall.org/blogs/rouleur/files/2012/11/sprint-carriers2-236x300.jpg)

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andybwhite | 9 years ago
0 likes

I have always found cassettes to be a common failure item. Therefore...

//terrywassall.org/blogs/rouleur/files/2012/11/sprint-carriers2-236x300.jpg)

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arrieredupeleton | 9 years ago
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When does the Vuelta start? Bored now.  4

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dafyddp | 9 years ago
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Seems a bit pointless - assuming you've got a spare link and a chain breaker anyway, wouldn't you just shorten the chain, and fix it on a middle gear to get home? Just seems like an extra thing to squeeze into the saddle bag

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SideBurn replied to dafyddp | 9 years ago
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dafyddp wrote:

Seems a bit pointless - assuming you've got a spare link and a chain breaker anyway, wouldn't you just shorten the chain, and fix it on a middle gear to get home? Just seems like an extra thing to squeeze into the saddle bag

That is what we did in the 'good 'ol days' (yawn) but it does not work anymore with modern style dropouts. You should not need to spend too long squeezing a 12g piece of metal into a saddle bag  4

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KiwiMike | 9 years ago
0 likes

So let's recap:

Some people have broken specific bits of their bikes
Some people have never broken the same bit in decades of riding

Therefore, some people think that carrying a spare one of these bits is A Good Idea
Others see no point as the chance of said bit breaking is very small, they aren't cheap, they take up space, and a viable workaround is possible in most cases.

Also if you extend this thinking to the rest of your bike, you therefore must carry a spare of any individual critical component, ending up carrying kilograms of spare metal on the offchance something might break, one day:

stem bolts
crank bolts
derailleur bolts
jockeywheels
jockeywheel bolts
chain links
QR skewers
...
..
.

Ergo, this is a religious issue and will never be resolved. Carry what you like, based upon your own personal Road To Damascus mechanical failure experience(s).

Avatar
farrell replied to KiwiMike | 9 years ago
0 likes
KiwiMike wrote:

Also if you extend this thinking to the rest of your bike, you therefore must carry a spare of any individual critical component, ending up carrying kilograms of spare metal on the offchance something might break, one day:

stem bolts
crank bolts
derailleur bolts
jockeywheels
jockeywheel bolts
chain links
QR skewers
...
..
.

Ergo, this is a religious issue and will never be resolved. Carry what you like, based upon your own personal Road To Damascus mechanical failure experience(s).

I do get your point, you could resort to carrying everything and it ends up becoming ridiculous, however, none of the items you've listed are designed to break whereas a hanger is.

As a side note, Gearmechhanger must be very happy having this review being kept up at the top of the page today!

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KiwiMike replied to farrell | 9 years ago
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farrell wrote:

...none of the items you've listed are designed to break whereas a hanger is.

We are talking about carrying spares to save you a long walk or expensive taxi ride in the event of a mechanical failure.

In that regard, whether the part was designed to be sacrificial or not is irrelevant.

If you apply the logic that the hanger *might* break therefore you need to carry a spare, then the same logic dictates you should also carry spares for everything else that *might* break.

Back in the day I used to carry a spare SPD cleat, plate and bolts, having had one strip its threads in the middle of an 80km all-day backcountry epic resulting in a very gingerly ride home with one plastic-soled-foot slipping off a very ungrippy pedal.

Therefore, I insist it is foolish to not carry a complete spare shoe on all rides longer than an hour  3

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sps137 | 9 years ago
0 likes

I've broken 4 mech hangers in about 10 years. Admittedly 3 of those were during 'cross racing, and in two of those instances I destroyed the chain as well, but it doesnt take much to tear off a soft alloy hanger, indeed they're made soft precisely because they are a sacrificial item.

But I once ripped the mech off riding up Brixton hill after one pint two many when I tried to change down on the front and up on the back at the same time - idiot

I also saw a friend ride over a small stick whilst MTBing in Wales which instantly flicked up between the chain and jockey wheel, resulting in the mech tearing up and over on his next pedal stroke.

In neither instance could we frig the chain to run SS satisfactorily. One resulted in an expensive taxi ride, the other in a long walk and wasted day's riding. I believe both could have been resoved sufficiently with a widget like this

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SideBurn | 9 years ago
0 likes

A couple of years ago I rescued a cyclist who had broken his mech-hanger, they are designed to snap before the frame and save the expense of a new frame.
I have snapped one, when my chain snapped riding up a hill (this was on a new bike, the chain had numerous small cracks in it so it presumably a faulty chain) it was a pain as I was on my way to work.
Shit happens, having a spare mech-hanger makes sense to me. I am loving the, "Can't they eat cake" statements above, what if you have not got someone 'on call' to come and rescue you? And a mobile signal?
I have one on the way, great idea, saves me purchasing one for each bike and would have been great in the situation above when I found a broken down cyclist; I pushed him to the nearest town.

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KiwiMike | 9 years ago
0 likes

I'm with DavidC here - in 30 years of riding, through about 20 bikes (that I can recall) including a decade of doing maybe 100km of reasonably gnarly MTB riding each week (living on the volcanic plateau in NZ, then in Wellington, then in Rotovegas next to the Redwoods trails) then about 5,000km per year of general road riding in Europe, I have *never* snapped a hanger. Frames, yes. Forks, yes. Bent a front mech almost off a steel frame (bent it back again - steel FTW) but never a hanger. Maybe I'm careful. Who knows.

Nor do I ever recall a riding partner - on or off-road - doing so.

That said, I do not doubt that people have broken them. It must be common enough for mfrs to make them replaceable and for there to be an after-market for spares.

I disagree that the standard 5mm hex is a tool you don't need to carry - 5mm also does front mech, brake cable clamps, brake blocks, seatposts and headset cap.

But this in no way means you should have a spare hanger filling your saddlebag, unless you are on an unsupported trans-continental expedition, that is  1

The market I see for this is to know you can get one next-day delivery online as a stop-gap to keep riding while you wait for a replacement frame or hanger to arrive as a long-term fix.

...actually, the one thing that would maybe make me buy one in advance of a snapped hanger is the fact it can live on my keyring as a bottle opener. But at £18, that's a pretty expensive/bulky-in-the-pocket talking point.

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dave atkinson replied to KiwiMike | 9 years ago
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KiwiMike wrote:

But this in no way means you should have a spare hanger filling your saddlebag, unless you are on an unsupported trans-continental expedition, that is  1

i'd get yourself a bigger saddlebag, mike  1

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KiwiMike | 9 years ago
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Road.CC inability to delete double posts KLAXON

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arrieredupeleton | 9 years ago
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I trashed a rear mech and D hanger due to a link snapping on my chain. It was only the inner plate of the link but enough to pull the derailleur apart and bend the hanger. The chain wasn't stretched, just a known fault with a batch of Ultegra chains at that time. 40 miles on a singlespeed was interesting.

It probably won't happen to David C but I can see the value of this if you're touring or regularly ride several hours away from home or if you use more than one bike regularly.

£15 doesn't get you far in a taxi these days.

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FlatBattery | 9 years ago
0 likes

This looks like something I need to get so I never have a snapped hanger so it never gets used. My garage is full of 'just in case' widgets

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ryanbak00 | 9 years ago
0 likes

pointless! you carry this round instead of just the replacement mech hanger :L

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dave atkinson | 9 years ago
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crash recovery doesn't work properly here because the mech is not in a position where it can reach all the sprockets. manual setup works better.

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dave atkinson | 9 years ago
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the one thing it does miss on Di2 is that you can't finesse the shift by overshifting a touch, to compensate for the fact that the mech is further away from the cassette. so sometimes a shift won't take. but it's better than the alternative by some margin  1

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Nick T | 9 years ago
0 likes

I'd love to see what happens to a Di2's brain after you whack one of these jobs in.

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dave atkinson replied to Nick T | 9 years ago
0 likes
Nick T wrote:

I'd love to see what happens to a Di2's brain after you whack one of these jobs in.

That's a Di2 bike you can see it on. bit of fecking about with the limit screws and fine-tuning of the mech position required, but it's no more difficult than on a mechanical bike really

Avatar
Nick T replied to dave atkinson | 9 years ago
0 likes
Dave Atkinson wrote:
Nick T wrote:

I'd love to see what happens to a Di2's brain after you whack one of these jobs in.

That's a Di2 bike you can see it on. bit of fecking about with the limit screws and fine-tuning of the mech position required, but it's no more difficult than on a mechanical bike really

Ah, from the copy I got the impression you'd tested it out with a mechanical set up, while assuming that the photo was just a display prop. Good to know it'll still function on Nintendo gears though.

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giobox replied to Nick T | 9 years ago
0 likes
Nick T wrote:
Dave Atkinson wrote:
Nick T wrote:

I'd love to see what happens to a Di2's brain after you whack one of these jobs in.

That's a Di2 bike you can see it on. bit of fecking about with the limit screws and fine-tuning of the mech position required, but it's no more difficult than on a mechanical bike really

Ah, from the copy I got the impression you'd tested it out with a mechanical set up, while assuming that the photo was just a display prop. Good to know it'll still function on Nintendo gears though.

If anything it is probably even easier with the 'Nintendo' gears. DI2 is ridiculously adaptable.

This seems a bit overkill to me. You'd have to start riding with a hex key big enough to unbolt the derailleur from the old hanger too, a key which is largely unnecessary for any road side maintenance. All for something that most folks will never have the misfortune to need. Might be handy on the club run, but for my solo rides I think I'll stick to an emergency phone call or taxi home.

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Joeinpoole replied to giobox | 9 years ago
0 likes
giobox wrote:
Nick T wrote:
Dave Atkinson wrote:
Nick T wrote:

I'd love to see what happens to a Di2's brain after you whack one of these jobs in.

That's a Di2 bike you can see it on. bit of fecking about with the limit screws and fine-tuning of the mech position required, but it's no more difficult than on a mechanical bike really

Ah, from the copy I got the impression you'd tested it out with a mechanical set up, while assuming that the photo was just a display prop. Good to know it'll still function on Nintendo gears though.

If anything it is probably even easier with the 'Nintendo' gears. DI2 is ridiculously adaptable.

This seems a bit overkill to me. You'd have to start riding with a hex key big enough to unbolt the derailleur from the old hanger too, a key which is largely unnecessary for any road side maintenance. All for something that most folks will never have the misfortune to need. Might be handy on the club run, but for my solo rides I think I'll stick to an emergency phone call or taxi home.

Must admit I'm completely mystified about the market for this. Is it one for the helmet-wearing brigade who apparently keep falling off their bikes? I'd suggest just keeping an eye on the road ahead ... and you should be absolutely fine! It works for me anyway.

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DavidC replied to giobox | 9 years ago
0 likes
giobox wrote:

This seems a bit overkill to me. You'd have to start riding with a hex key big enough to unbolt the derailleur from the old hanger too, a key which is largely unnecessary for any road side maintenance. All for something that most folks will never have the misfortune to need.

Agreed. Through a lot of years of riding I have never snapped a hanger, nor ever seen nor heard of anyone I've ridden with snap a hanger during a ride, under any circumstances, except for one poor new-guy with a new bike I once found at the side of the road, with a maladjusted derailleur twisted backwards in his spokes — and the hanger still wasn't snapped — for him, his ride was over no matter what.

I'm even having a hard time imagining how someone does this when riding, without completely trashing the bike or body. In either case a drive home would be in order anyway.

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farrell replied to DavidC | 9 years ago
0 likes
DavidC wrote:

Agreed. Through a lot of years of riding I have never snapped a hanger, nor ever seen nor heard of anyone I've ridden with snap a hanger during a ride, under any circumstances, except for one poor new-guy with a new bike I once found at the side of the road, with a maladjusted derailleur twisted backwards in his spokes — and the hanger still wasn't snapped — for him, his ride was over no matter what.

I'm even having a hard time imagining how someone does this when riding, without completely trashing the bike or body. In either case a drive home would be in order anyway.

An utter nonsense of a post that reeks of snobbery.

People can break hangers without "trashing the bike or body", nor do they have to be a " new-guy with a new bike".

If you search eBay you will see thousands of replacement rear hangers for sale, if they're not breaking, why is their such a market for replacements?

I can see the sense in this piece of kit, if you use a few different bikes it's handy to have, or perhaps if you travel and were hiring a bikes elsewhere, or just to have with you in case someone you're riding with has a malfunction.

At £15 it's pretty much the same as any other hanger so it's not some outlandish price either.

Avatar
DavidC replied to farrell | 9 years ago
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"Snobbery"? It has been said that when a person makes an assumption about somebody else's thoughts, their assumption only says anything about themselves.

Anyway, replacement rear hangers are useful for replacing badly bent hangers, and also cross-threaded or stripped hangers.

Bending can happen in very simple circumstances, such as when a bike falls over after having been leaned against a wall, or when squeezing a bike into a car, or in any crash or slight tumble, or in many other circumstances. Bent hangers are very common, and indeed I own a tool for straightening them. Actually breaking one, in my experience, is rare to the point of never having happened to me nor anyone I've ever known.

Avatar
farrell replied to DavidC | 9 years ago
0 likes
DavidC wrote:

"Snobbery"? It has been said that when a person makes an assumption about somebody else's thoughts, their assumption only says anything about themselves.

Anyway, replacement rear hangers are useful for replacing badly bent hangers, and also cross-threaded or stripped hangers.

Bending can happen in very simple circumstances, such as when a bike falls over after having been leaned against a wall, or when squeezing a bike into a car, or in any crash or slight tumble, or in many other circumstances. Bent hangers are very common, and indeed I own a tool for straightening them. Actually breaking one, in my experience, is rare to the point of never having happened to me nor anyone I've ever known.

Shoe horning in a reference to someone being inexperienced? Yes, I'd say that was snobbery.

Regardless of that, hangers do break and it isn't rare. It's happened to me and it has happened to people I know. I even have a broken hanger on desk at work.

Leaves, carrier bag, passenger door of a car - three different riders, three broken rear hangers. None of them a "new guy on a new bike".

I'm not even sure why a "do hangers break" conversation is even happening.

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dave atkinson replied to farrell | 9 years ago
0 likes
farrell wrote:

I'm not even sure why a "do hangers break" conversation is even happening.

quite. the fact that you buy it from a website set up specifically to sell them might be a clue

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