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Today I did the unthinkable and crashed my pride and joy, a 2018 Specialized Roubaix comp. It's completely my fault I was commuting to work and in my pre caffeine state rode through what I thought was a puddle but was actually a massive patch of black ice.

I went down straight away, I came off the bike and we both landed separately. I'm ok (cuts & bruises + massively damaged ego) but the bike is damaged.

Fortunately it went down on the handlebars & rear derailleur, the bar tape was damaged & and the rear mech is bent and scraped badly.

I've checked the frame for damage and it looks ok, I'm going to give it another inspect after a thorough wash but I'm chancing that the frames ok.

I'm going to repair the bike, since all thats really damaged is the rear mech however I'm unsure about sourcing a replacement.

I bought the bike from Evans cycles, they state the spec as: Shimano Ultegra 8000, long cage, 11-speed

However wherever I look online (Shimano's own site), it looks like they only sell a short & medium cage derailleur.

My cassette is 11-32 so I do require a longer cage. The medium cage derailleur does state it can take a 34T max so I'm going to order that.

My question is, why would the bike specs specify components that don't exist? Did a long cage ultegra derailleur ever exist (the bike is 2018 spec).

Are there any checks you guys do or 'must replace's after crashing out (I usually buy a new helmet for example). I'd say the crash was a more intense version of everyone's first crash when learning to ride clipless pedals at traffic lights (a straight drop).

I usually do all of my bike maintenance myself (minus the hydro brakes), would you recommend taking it to a shop for a once over or is that just a faster way to part with my money?

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    Make sure your handlebar and brake/shift levers are not bent or scratched.
    – Michael
    Commented Jan 10, 2020 at 12:59
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    A couple of weeks after doing something similar, I found myself waving a handlebar on Finchley Road, a situation that didn't last long. Fortunately the car behind me was able to stop. But that's the day I learned quite a lot about fatigue fractures in aluminium alloy. So, double check the bar.
    – user_1818839
    Commented Jan 11, 2020 at 18:15
  • I took the bar tape off and everything looks ok for now. Wouldn't be the end of the world since I don't like the specialized hover bars that came with the bike so that would be a good excuse to change them!
    – Axemasta
    Commented Jan 12, 2020 at 16:13

2 Answers 2

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The Evans site is in error. Generally road derailleurs come in SS (short) and GS (medium) versions. The SGS long types are found in MTB groups.

Your derailleur may be scraped up but not bent and still servidable, the derailleur hanger typically gets bent in a crash which saves the derailleur.

My experience of crashes where I've gone down on my side is the frame is fine as impact is taken by the bar, shifter, pedal and derailleur. Going over the bike looking for issues is obviously a good idea. I'd check the shifter, bar and stem alignment in particular.

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  • Took it to the good local bike shop & they bent the hanger back into place. First ride back on it today! feels like before :)
    – Axemasta
    Commented Jan 12, 2020 at 16:14
  • Good to hear you are back in business. You may want to order a replacement hanger, those that have been bent and straightened are weakened.
    – Argenti Apparatus
    Commented Jan 12, 2020 at 16:47
  • I've already got one on order! the shop told me it's fine to do once, gets a bit risky any more. Apparently they struggle to stock the specialized hangers and just told me to get one on back order and they'll replace it when I take it in for some bigger work.
    – Axemasta
    Commented Jan 13, 2020 at 9:44
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A medium cage is fine with 11 up to 34. It may have been marketed by E. as a long cage.

BTW: check the derailleur hanger, it might be bent. Also, don't throw the bent derailleur away. It could still be usable for spares like jockey wheels, bolts etc.

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    Agree. The jockey wheels do wear out, so in the unlikely case that the OP actually killed the RD, he at least has a pair of jockey wheels with not too many miles. Also, as emphasized more in the other answer, it actually is more likely that the derailer hangar is bent, and the actual derailer is just scraped.
    – Weiwen Ng
    Commented Jan 10, 2020 at 16:20
  • Okay thankyou, it looks like everyone calls it a long cage (even on the specialized concept store...) I figured the medium was right because it was rated for 34T, but i thought i'd check with those who knew more. Thanks specialized for providing an accurate spec of your very expensive bikes... 🤦
    – Axemasta
    Commented Jan 12, 2020 at 16:17

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