Derailleurs

Derailleurs are cunning bits of kit. The way they work is simple: they take advantage of your pedalling action to move the chain smoothly from one sprocket to another. The name comes from the French for ’derail’ (pronounced simply ’de-railer’ or ’de-rail-yer’).

The rear derailleur hangs underneath the cassette and feeds the loose chain that’s returning from the chainset back onto the cassette. This is the part of the chain that isn’t under pressure – it’s the top part that’s doing the work as you pedal. The important part for changing gear is the guide jockey wheel, the one that sits closest to the cassette. It’s also called the top jockey, even when the bicycle is upside down. The derailleur works by using the cable to move the guide jockey across the cassette. Because this part of the chain is not under pressure, the chain will follow the guide jockey and move onto a different size sprocket as it is fed onto the cassette. The chain needs to be moving to mesh…

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