SHIMANO Tourney TX55 Rear Derailleur (6/7 Speed)

I bought this to replace a rear derailleur on a vintage 1979 Schwinn World Sport 10 speed. The derailleur was easy to install and easy to adjust. The instructions were fairly clear, which is typical for a Shimano product. When you open up the installation instructions, emblazoned across the top of the page, in large letters, is the message from Shimano about this product: ADD 2 LINKS. Take them seriously, and add two links to your chain. The chainpath is longer with this derailleur than the original derailleur that came off of the bike, so the chain will need to be lengthened to compensate. Fortunately, I had an extra chain laying around, so obtaining two new links was no real hassle. Overall, this item worked perfectly to replace the original 5 speed rear derailleur on the Schwinn. Since it's made for 6 and 7 speed rear cassettes, it did require some small adjustments to limit the horizontal travel distance of the derailleur -- but it still worked fine with the original 5 speed cassette. Tools needed: pliers, 15mm wrench, flat head screwdriver, decent chain tool (I used the Park CT-5), 9 mm wrench or socket (for cable stay nut).

Had some chain slipping problems as soon as I installed this. I then removed it and put it on another bike for testing and it's working well on that bike..One chain on one bike is a cheap chain and the other chain is a Shimano with the curved side plates..I think the problem was the types of chains and adjustments..This derailleur seems to love the cheaper chains but it's working well on the Shimano chain now too. Getting it set did the trick.....I think it's not bad for the price so go ahead and put one on your bike... If your chain skips check the chain wrap under the high gear with the chain on the middle gear and the high gear.... You may have to tighten up the hangar tension screw or add or remove a link to get this to pull the chain under the high gear halfway around the high gear..The hangar tension screw is that OTHER screw which is not the Hi or Lo screw. Screw "THAT" screw in tight before you install this baby and it should work well. The chain must wrap half of the 14 tooth freewheel gear if you don't want chain skip when you stand up on the bike and hammer up hills..mine are working just fine.. Some of the new cheap bikes may skip right out of the box store when the rider stands on the petals..Again someone may not have the chain length correct and the tension screw may not be set on the cheap bikes since they are not normally assembled by professionals. There may be some weak tension springs in new derailleurs too but I can't say that for sure... When the first one did not perform well I installed another one of these on my bike to see what it will do and that one works great. Strangely enough the one I took off my bike also works well on another bike... If you installed one of these and have chain skipping the derailleur may be your problem. It may be not pulling the chain under the high gear far enough for it to hold when you put a lot of pressure on the chain. The chain length may be not allowing the chain to do it's job.. I would love to hear your experiences. email me at chiefredelk at gmail dot com..It does shift smooth UP and DOWN through the gears. It's working right I am happy with it...Get one if you want a cheap derailleur that is working well. It may last a LONG time, I can't say..

Got this as a replacement for a dying derailleur on an older generic mountain bike. Attaches easily to older-style mounting around axle bolt. Description says to use on 6-ring or larger rear gears, but limit settings work fine for this older 5-ring gear. Solid construction, looks durable (time will tell). Shifts smoothly and no slippage noted. Cheap and easy fix to avoid replacing teen's bike. UPDATE: After about two years of light use, my son just went over a curb and the gear cage detached from the rest of the unit. The gears then caught in the wheel, causing a bent chain and ripping-out some spokes. At least the bike was the only thing hurt in the incident. Now I have an old bike that needs a new rear wheel, chain, and of course...a derailleur. If you are considering heavy use of your bike then I recommend upgrading to something more durable.

If your wondering, yes this derailleur will work with the MegaRange series of freewheels/cassettes. (ones with 30+ tooth first gear and this one I think is rated for a max of a 34 tooth gear) It gets along with my MegaRange freewheel much better then the old one and has less shifting issues. Old derailleur would not hold 4th gear and would always jump to 5th. I couldn't tighten the alignment any further as a result since it was maxed on on the first gear limit and putting it any further past would derail the chain off the first gear and into the spokes which is bad news. :P This new one does not have that issue and copes well with the new chain and freewheel on the bike. It holds 4th gear and once calibrated, it will shift smoothly. (I am using a Shimano brand 6 speed SIS index shifter which I also got from Amazon and they get along nicely. :D) So for road bikes and perhaps light off-roading, this shifter will definitely hold up. Don't use this for heavy off-roading though. The plastic gears in this derailleur look like they will brake if abused heavily. :P

I can't say that this product failed to perform; however, I read the description carefully and confirmed that I ordered the direct mounted version. Unfortunately I received a version that mounts in another manner. I was very disappointed that I received the wrong product and was in a rush to complete the project as it was for a gift. I am unable to say weather of not the product is good or bad, only that it was not clearly stated that it was not a direct mount item.