Originally Posted by
Eric1
Hi -- I had a Regina 7 speed freewheel on my vintage Kestrel racing bike, but had my mechanic remove it and put on a 7 speed Campagnolo freewheel. Unfortunately, the
Campy freewheel is skipping and slipping when I pedal when the chain is on the smallest 3 or 4 cogs. Our thinking now is that the chain doesn't have enough room to seat on or between the smallest cogs, and is slipping.
It's fine on the big cogs, which have more vertical distance between them than the small ones.
My chain is a Rohloff Germany 99 S.L.T . Do you know if the Regina CX-S or the Sedisport, which Campagnolo originally recommended with their 7 speed freewheels, are somewhat narrower? If we are correct in our diagnosis, a narrower chain should do the trick. If it isn't that or a narrower chain is not available, maybe my Campy freewheel has six speed cogs on it instead of the narrower 7 speed ones, or something like that?
Please help and thanks!
That chain's width should work fine on that freewheel, but if the chain and freewheel weren't both brand new when installed, you run the chance of mismatched pitch due to chain or cog wear.
If the chain didn't have enough room to seat between the cogs, it would never engage. You wouldn't be able to pedal at all.
If the chain's skipping under pressure, then it's almost certain that one or the other is worn- my bet is it's the freewheel. If it's a Campy aluminum freewheel, take it off and use it for a paperweight. New 7-speed freewheels are available from IRD:
http://www.interlocracing.com/freewheels_steel.html