"Sometimes the chain seems to simply float EVEN WHEN I’M NOT PEDALING, and then it lands wherever it wants without my touching the shifter."
I'm trying to comprehend what this means. I'll take it to mean you are coasting. If you are coasting, with your feet stationary, and you observe the chain moving around -or- "floating", that's a rear cassette body issue. The freewheeling mechanism in the rear hub is too tight and can't coast freely. So when you coast, the rotating wheel continues to PUSH the chain along, making it highly random whether it is engaged in a particular gear when you start pedaling again. It makes perfect sense for this to be worse in HIGHER gears (smaller rear cogs) because smaller cogs give that sticky free hub more leverage to push the chain along. Here is the test to confirm this is going on. 1. Shift the bike to the very highest gear: biggest chain ring in front, smallest cog in back. 2. Put the bike in the work stand. If you don't have a work stand, have a friend hold the rear wheel up in the air 3. grab the rear tire and gently spin the rear wheel forward 4. In this set up, the rear wheel should smoothly rotate forward, and the crankset should remain stationary. If the cranks are moving, that's a problem 5. If the cranks are moving in #4, then have your friend block the cranks from moving with their leg while they hold the rear wheel up 6. Spin the wheel forward again. Does the chain "droop" onto the drive side chain stay? does the chain "float" or skip on the rear gears? My mechanic's instinct is that those results of the above steps could confirm you've got a sticky free-hub. If that's what you've got going on, that will be your first problem to address. There are a number of things that could be a root cause to that symptom, and it would take a mechanic you trust to get in there. If your Atlantis and Platypus have the same wheel diameter, you could just swap rear wheels and confirm the coasting problem follows the wheel. Given your problems while pedaling, it is entirely possible you have another problem as well, but this particular one has a unique signature. Bill Lindsay El Cerrito, CA On Monday, January 6, 2025 at 7:45:30 AM UTC-8 meti...@gmail.com wrote: > Your thoughts on a skipping/slipping/floating chain and gear, please. > > In late November 2024. I received my newly built up Platypus from C&L > Cycles in Montreal. I love it beyond description. However, there’s one very > frustrating issue that I can’t figure out and wonder what insight you > friends might have about it. > > From the get-go, the gears have slipped. Yes, I’m using friction Silver > Shifters, and I’ve spent a lot of time eliminating myself as the problem > here. But I’ve ALWAYS used friction shifters on every bike (other than my > Clem) and I’m not a klutz, and I’ve tried really really hard to be land > these gear changes, but this problem just keeps happening. I’ve put > probably 200 miles on the Platypus and I’ve not taken a single ride on it > that this has not been a problem. > > The issue occurs on the rear 9-gear cassette and almost always in the > highest 3 gears…especially when going uphill or cresting a hill, but not > always. > > Sometimes the chain seems to simply float EVEN WHEN I’M NOT PEDALING, and > then it lands wherever it wants without my touching the shifter. > > This is driving me nuts because I adore this bicycle and this problem is > making me lose trust. It’s not safe to ride in the kind of traffic I ride. > > I’ve taken the bike to my local bike shop, and we’ve changed the chain, > but the issue continues. > > (I’m pretty sure no one at the bike shop is actually riding the Playtpus > very far, which is disappointing…because I’m convinced that if they ride it > far enough they would experience the problem. But I can’t force them to > take it for a long ride in cold and sloppy weather, so now I’m considering > next moves.) > > Does anyone know of any issues like this with the Silver Shifters? I’m > considering replacing them with Shimano. Or maybe a new cassette? Maybe an > 8-gears cassette—which is what I have on my trusty Atlantis and with which > I’ve never had an issue with shifting. > > I sent an email to Rivendell yesterday, which they should read some time > today, but I thought I might get somewhere with this group, too. > > Liz (who probably isn’t a klutz, but the thought still lingers that it > might be me but it’s not), snowbound in Cincinnati > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/c70920f1-bad2-43d3-b8b4-2ed9a06aad8fn%40googlegroups.com.
