Bicycle Mechanics - Chain between gears?

I thought I finally had my Sanwa Road Bike ready to ride, but a weird problem has arisen. Often, the chain will sit so only the edge of it is touching the cog, and it pretty much rotates freely around it. I have a 6-speed freewheel, the right chain, and friction shifters, and the cogs don't seem very worn, so I can't really think of anything that would be causing it. Here is my attempt at getting a picture of it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a64/Ropefish/DSC01453.jpg

1 of 2 things likely

-your chain is too narrow-looks like you have a 6 speed rear and maybe you have a 8-9speed chain

-your friction shifters are not being relaxed enough-could be your cable is sticking or is too tight.

i'm dumb, you said it was a 6

It seems to me that with a friction shifter you should be able to put the chain wherever you want it.
Is it possible that the shifter is slipping? You should be able to add friction at the shifter with a knob or wire "D" ring.

Al

I've seen this lots of times. It's your freewheel. The tops of the teeth have grooves down the center, I'm sure there's a technical name for it, but I call these freewheels "split top teeth" freewheels. Likely the tooth design was to facilitate shifting. They were common on Schwinns and Peugeots in the 1960s and 1970s, and likely came on many other brands as well. These freewheels were a constant problem at the used bike shop I worked at.

Sometimes these freewheels work fine, sometimes they have a propensity to behave like yours. And then you get "ghost pedal" and things aren't fun at all. Replace the freewheel with one without split top teeth and you'll be fine.

Cheers, Geoff

Go green phantom, you nailed it.

I was going to ask if this bike was a Schwinn World Sport-it sure looks like it with the color and the color of the cable housing. Might be a Schwinn rebrand or something.

Great... Just what I needed to hear... I have a Helicomatic hub, so I guess it's just cheaper to replace the whole wheel... I'll throw a cheap steel wheel on for now, but I'm thinking I'll go with a 3-speed like I've been wanting to do. Thanks for figuring it out.

Here's a pic of the bike, a Sanwa Classic.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a64/Ropefish/DSC01444.jpg

if you have a heli hub get rid of that thing, it is a piece-o-junk. you can get a replacement used wheel for cheap if you look around, will probably have a freewheel on it already too.

Good on you for the brooks saddle though.

Op didn't look too carefully at the lockring on the hub of your original pic. you sure do have a helicomatic. For real, get rid of it.

Shame, it looks like it is mounted on a good rim too. Saving the rim will require new spokes too.

If you want just a new cassette you might try that big used bike shop in Madison-cant remember the name

budget bikes, try them

I think the Helicomatic requires a specific freewheel, and Yellow Jersey wants $150 for one. I should see if they would be interested in buying the hub off me for parts or whatever.

I found my other 27" wheel, and it had those grooves too. Guess I have to switch the freewheel out on that to get a working wheel.

Also, any idea how much it would cost to get a wheel built using that rim and a 3-speed hub?