Silca’s new 3D-printed titanium derailleur hangers started out as a project to improve the shifting on WorldTour road bikes. Often overlooked from a performance perspective, most bikes feature a replaceable derailleur hanger. It’s a sacrificial part that means neither frame nor derailleur gets damaged in a crash. But adding a strategic weak link at a key point in your drivetrain sacrifices some shifting precision.
Silca hopes to overcome that limitation. Their lighter, stiffer hanger upgrade then, promises faster and more precise shifts for your road, gravel, and mountain bikes…
Silca hollow 3D-printed titanium derailleur hanger upgrades
Mostly ignored until relatively recently – maybe outside of Shimano’s Direct Mount and the advent of SRAM’s UDH standard – the lowly derailleur hanger has the potential to actually decrease the overall performance of your bike. All in its attempt to safeguard against costly damage. But if willing to sacrifice some of that little insurance policy, stiffer derailleur hangers offer real potential shifting crispness gains.
Of note: Even though it is stiffer, Silca’s 3D-printed ti hanger still includes an “internal fracture notch”. Silca still designed the hanger to break away before damaging your frame. And you can align it with a conventional derailleur hanger alignment tool.
Pros have been running custom-machined stainless and special alloy hangers for years to improve shift precision. And the boom in powerful electronic derailleurs and ever-smaller gaps between rising numbers of cogs in the cassette, mean shift precision has never been more critical.
Silca claims that “modern electronic derailleurs shift so fast and with such force that conventional hangers made from low-grade aluminum plates will flex up to 4 degrees during a shift, resulting in less precise, noisier, and slower shifting. Traditional hangers also bend easily, even in minor incidents, resulting in unnecessary bike changes and additional workload for mechanics.“
Now, Silca is promising Pro-level shifting improvements, available for any cyclist who wants it!
Tech details
Silca’s 3D-printed derailleur hanger leverages their proven AI-generated hollow 3D-printed titanium lattice construction. That’s the same we’ve seen in their ultralight tools, over-engineered bottle opener, longer-lasting clipless cleats, and even the somewhat amusingly controversial-looking out-front GPS mount. What that means is it is light. It is strong and stiff. And you can relatively easily fit it to most bikes.
Available either in a universal fit for all derailleurs or a Shimano Direct Mount fit that replaces the upper derailleur link – Silca claims lighter weight and dramatic stiffness improvements. For SRAM & Campagnolo derailleurs, Silca says the ti hanger is 5-6x stiffer than conventional aluminum hangers and 2-6g lighter. For Shimano drivetrains dropping that upper link means the Silca 3D-printed titanium derailleur hanger delivers a claimed 8-10x higher stiffness. Plus, you get 4-12g savings, too (depending on bike model).
Word is that this 3D-printed Silca ti hanger has “already won Tour de France stages and resisted crashes, the ultimate sign-off by any pro cyclist and team”. Silca is a bit tight-lipped about which riders have been using it.
But the list of currently compatible road bikes and some internet sleuthing could turn up more specifics if you are so inclined to find those 2 claimed 2023 Tour stage wins.
Silca 3D-printed derailleur hanger – Pricing, options & availability
At first, Silca offers the universal 3D-printed titanium derailleur hanger to fit 9 brands of bikes for $85 apiece. That then includes Cannondale, Canyon, Cervelo, Factor, Giant, Pinarello, Scott, Specialized, and Trek. They also make 3D-printed ti hangers for UDH-equipped bikes for $99, either for universal derailleur fits OR Shimano-specific Direct Mount. That likely already includes compatibility with hundreds of different bikes – across road, all-road, cyclocross, gravel, and mountain bikes.
Additionally, thanks to the adaptability of 3D-printing, Silca says they’ll introduce additional models for more compatibility “based on demand”. Find yours now at:
