Ryan - I have two thoughts on your problem: 1) it may be your freewheel. I had a Regina that would spin smoothly mo st of the time but then would occasionally stick noticeably. It was a n ew old stock unit. It turns out that the internals had corroded from ye ars of sitting unused. I tried dousing the innards with solvent and re- oiling, but it was not fixable. 2) I'm not familiar with the model of chain you're using, but it may not be compatible with the 6 peed spacing on your freewheel. The older cha ins had the same inner dimensions but significantly wider pin diameters than modern chains. The wide pins are necessary for proper shifting on the older equipment. You may want to call Harris cyclery, which, in add ition to being experts on mechanical issues such as this, carry the olde r style chains at reasonable prices. I am not aware of any break-in period for a new chain. It should be qui te smooth right out of the box, unless it has corroded. Good luck. Len Ryan Hildebrand wrote: This is my first post here. I initially joined the list at the suggestion of another member for bike lore and FS listings. Very glad that I did so.
About 3 months ago, I installed a new chain (SRAM PC58) on my 1 year off-topic Ciocc Mockba 80 with on-topic SR crank and chainrings (53/43) and Regina 13/21 6-sp FW. Since then I have been averaging about 2 skips per 12 miles a day, always under moderate-to-heavy load. If anything, it's getting worse. The equipment was previously mounted on a Paramount with no problems.
I just measured the old chain and it was not stretched. The teeth on the FW are very strong. I've measured them and am (nearly) satisfied that the FW isn't the problem, which leaves the new chain. The tension is good. I've tried to identify a stiff link, but just don't see it. When I tried flipping the chain it was so bad that I had to flip it back five minutes later.
Is there a "breaking in the chain" ritual you can suggest? Is it possible the chain is just bad? Am I overlooking something else?
I'm fairly new to this and am hardly a mechanic, so please forgive me if I'm asking naïve questions. I read the archives heavily before writing. My local bike shops haven't been able to help.
Ryan Hildebrand
Costa Mesa, Calif.