"Fold" a Non-Folding Bike and Avoid Airline Fees

Step 14 Remove the Rear Derailer*

The derailer sticks out and can get damaged if you leave it on.
If you're able to keep the bag with you or otherwise protect it you don't have to take it off.

This bag will be in the hands of Amtrak employees, so we'll be careful.

*Sheldon Brown says to spell it that way.

Comments

[alcalaino]

Derailer, Sir, derailer (Sheldom Brown dixit:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer.html )

Nice instructable, though

[finton]

With terrific respect to Sheldon, who apparently speaks fluent French compared with my whatever-school-level-we-are-when-we-are-thirteen French (what we in NZ used to call Third Form before we got Americanised [hey, some of my best relatives are USAian]) and knows a whole BUNCH about bikes, gasp for breath, "derailleur" would be pronounced "day-rye-leuh" surely, rather than "day-rye-euh"? The consonant "L" would only not be pronounced when not followed by a vowel, oui??? eg S'il vous plait. He said humbly.

[jeremybull]

With perhaps less respect for your schoolboy French, you are incorrect. The double L in this instance is pronounced as a Y, so I'd say Sheldon's phonetic spelling is perfectly good. A couple of basic google searches would have enlightened you. Here you can listen to it: http://www.forvo.com/word/derailleur. And here you can read the rules: http://french.about.com/od/pronunciation/a/ll.htm.

[finton]

Yeah, I don't have much respect for my schoolboy French either. It would appear that the French pronounce it your way and, according to Sheldon - who ought to know! - and a lot of the sites that Google first gives for "derailleur pronunciation", English pronounces it with the "ll"'s. I s'pose it depends on which language one speaks. As Sheldon says: "This is actually a French word, but it is commonly pronounced in an anglicized manner, as "de-RAIL-er" or "de-RAIL-yur." The actual French pronunciation is more like "day-RYE-EUH" but nobody says that when speaking English."
So yeah, you're right about the French version. I'd imagine, though, that if I went into an English-speaking bike shop and asked for a "day-rye-eur", they'd look at me blankly: most of them wouldn't be as erudite as you and I!
Besides, my bike has Shimano Nexus 8-speed hub gears, so I don't need "day-rye-eurs" anyway :]
Thanks for the reply, jeremybull: the truth is good to know.