Derailleur woes

[Daddybus]

Bought this bike a few weeks ago (from a bit of a chancer i think....) with a very close ratio freewheel which would only work on four out of the five gears. I swapped the wheel over today with a conventional 14/24? 5 speed wheel... I can now get all 5 gears but its all very noisy & rough..it all seems to be running out of line & my pedal crank arm is hitting (& sometimes un-hooking!) the chain when I'm on the smallest cog... Also the hanger nut on the inside of the dropout grazes the chain... Any advice? Is it all just adjustment? I've played with the stop screws but they don't seem to be making much if any difference

 

[mjr]

Maybe someone's put the wrong BB axle length in it?

 

[mikeymustard]

Was this happening on the old freewheel? It looks way out like you say what else has changed on there?

 

[raleighnut]

The hanger goes on the outside of the dropout but it also looks like the steel crankarm has been bent.

 

[Daddybus]

Yes it was the same
..chain coming off on small sprocket & it just wouldn't engage on to the largest sprocket.
After changing the chain lubing & adjusting I managed to get all 5 gears ! (Briefly.....) before it all slipped back in to 3 speed mode again .....had enough of it now its going to the back of the shed lol

 

[mikeymustard]

Well when you get it back out make sure everything's straight and check that bottom bracket! Is the bike supposed to have a derailleur? Perhaps a previous owner has done a bodge

 

[Daddybus]

Just noticed the nut's missing off one of the cotter pins so it looks like the bb's been off recently. The bike has a dropout hanger so would deffo have had a dérailleur, there's a single Williams chain wheel fitted -but would have had a double chainwheel originally because it has 2 braze on cyclo levers (only 1 lever fitted tho) would this make a difference with the bb?

 

[midlife]

Is the spacing between the rear dropouts four and a half inches? (114mm in new currency)

Shaun

 

[raleighnut]

Double braze ons would indicate a double clanger (explains the close ratio gear block too) maybe someone just threw it together to flog it. (you called him a chancer upthread)

 

[Bobtoo]

I've just realised from looking at your other thread that the derailleur is mounted completely wrongly. That claw is meant to go on the wheel axle, if you mount to the hanger you shouldn't have a claw. Your SVX with the claw removed should work. Usually the hanger is threaded so there isn't a nut, or a thin nut at most.

 

[Illaveago]

It looks as though that rear derailleur needs winding up a bit, it should be tensioned with that spring clippy thing. It should be wound backwards engaging the spring against one of two hooks to take the slack out of the chain when you change gear.

 

[Illaveago]

As has been pointed out above the line of the chain looks at an odd angle as if the crank is too close to the frame.
Could we have a picture a bit further away to show the chain run to the crank?

 

[mikeymustard]

That claw is meant to go on the wheel axle, if you mount to the hanger you shouldn't have a claw. Your SVX with the claw removed should work. Usually the hanger is threaded so there isn't a nut, or a thin nut at most.

was gonna point that out too after I re-read your original post about the bike!

 

[Daddybus]

Thanks for all the replies ...here are the pics from this morning -the measurement between dropouts is 130mm? Ish. I fitted the svx on the outside of the hanger (putting the big nut on the outside) which has improved the clearance issue... So I'll now have to try it without the hanger... Cheers all

 

[Daddybus]

Ok so took the hanger off ...but found I can't screw the svx into the threaded hole in the dropout because there is a 'thing with a small screw' in the way -second picture the gap between the bolt & the thing with the screw is not wide enough ...what now?