How to Use derailleur in a Sentence

derailleur

noun
  • Use an old sponge and toothbrush on the chain, chain rings and derailleurs.
    — George Petras, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2025
  • Use an old sponge and toothbrush on the chain, chainrings and derailleurs.
    — George Petras, USA Today, 7 Apr. 2023
  • This bike has an alloy crank for steady gearing and twist shifters with a rear derailleur.
    — Bestreviews, The Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2025
  • But for me, the standout feature was the bike's gears—seven of them on a rear derailleur.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 31 Aug. 2022
  • Yet As gravel tires grow wider, the amount of space between the front derailleur and rear tire has shrunk.
    — Josh Patterson, Outside Online, 18 May 2020
  • The same technique works for the front derailleur, which also has a barrel adjuster.
    — Berne Broudy, Outside Online, 18 June 2013
  • The 8-speed flat-bar shifter is easy to operate, and the rear derailleur offers precise-enough shifts.
    — Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 8 May 2019
  • So first of all, size and weight considerations aside, why not just go with two chainrings and a front derailleur?
    — New Atlas, 10 Feb. 2026
  • This also meant upgrading the shifter and rear derailleur and lengthening the chain.
    — Emily Lapointe, Outside Online, 5 Feb. 2025
  • The derailleurs should move the chain easily between sprockets.
    — George Petras, USA Today, 7 Apr. 2023
  • Think of it somewhat like a bicycle’s derailleur gears, only lightning-quick.
    — Sean Evans, Robb Report, 28 June 2024
  • Direct mount of the derailleur to the frame offers a stiffer, more precise shift and overall performance.
    — Popular Science, 29 Nov. 2023
  • The base option for this ebike actually tips the scales four pounds heavier though, and sports a 9-speed derailleur.
    — Paul Ridden, New Atlas, 7 Mar. 2025
  • For example, over half of all bicycle crank sets, derailleurs and brake parts came from Taiwan.
    — Jay L. Zagorsky, The Conversation, 4 Apr. 2025
  • Shift the derailleur back to the smallest cog or chainring, loosen the cable bolt, and take up any slack before tightening it again.
    — Joe Lindsey, Outside Online, 29 Mar. 2021
  • The cranks typically have two chainrings and drive a chain that runs under the seat and to the rear axle, where there's a standard derailleur.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 12 May 2024
  • While wireless derailleurs may offer fast and precise electronic shifting, the things ain't cheap.
    — New Atlas, 27 Dec. 2025
  • Today's bicycles all have indexed shifting, in which the levers and derailleurs snap precisely from one gear to the next.
    — New Atlas, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Modern derailleur hangers are designed to break first, saving the expensive bits.
    — Joe Lindsey, Outside Online, 1 June 2021
  • Secondary targets for theft include the pedals, crank arm and crankset, handlebar grips, shifter, derailleur, and brake calipers.
    — Matt Jancer, WIRED, 28 Nov. 2023
  • If the cables are adjusted properly, the derailleur that moves the chain between gears would be lined up perfectly on one of them.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 10 Nov. 2018
  • For five years, Rivendell has been working on manufacturing its own derailleur.
    — Anna Wiener, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2024
  • In the main area, dozens of men and women assemble the bikes -– each with a specialized job, like looping the chain around the derailleur, or threading brake cables.
    — Jenny Leonard, Bloomberg.com, 31 Oct. 2020
  • Out back, a Shimano 7-speed Tourney derailleur common to many e-bikes handles gear-changing duties.
    — William Roberson, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
  • This bike comes with seven gears (the shifter and derailleur are from reputable brand Shimano) and has a grippy set of tires that are intended for on- and off-roading.
    — Dorian Smith-Garcia, Parents, 24 Aug. 2023
  • That's probably a good thing, as the distance between the cranks and rear derailleur requires three traditional bike chains linked together.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 12 May 2024
  • This reduces weight and complication by eliminating a shifter, chainring and derailleur.
    — Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 8 May 2019
  • First, the brain of the system lives in the fork and is powered by a standard AXS battery, the same one used on the rear derailleur and seatpost.
    — Rob Reed, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2021
  • So far on the Divide I’d been chased by dogs, climbed a tree to get away from a territorial bull, and shattered my derailleur a week into the route.
    — Maggie Slepian, Longreads, 15 Aug. 2024
  • If braking and shifting require lots of hand force, or if the derailleur is slow to shift the gears, that means there’s drag (dirt) inside the housings, so those and the cables need replacing.
    — Joe Lindsey, Outside Online, 29 Mar. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'derailleur.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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