Originally Posted by
LesterOfPuppets
Sounds like you cut the chain a little short.
8-speed chain is good for 6,7,or 8 speed gears.
Skipping could be a lot of problems. Worn chainring, worn rear cog. If it's wanting to change gears in back it could be poorly adjusted rear derailleur.
Look for derailleur adjustment vids online. I like to release the cable, make sure center of top pulley aligns with outside face of small cog (using H limit screw)
Then pull cable and anchor it. Some low-end derailleurs seem to like the cable a little loose, so don't pull super tight before anchoring.
Then shift through gears, adjust cable tension til they work, shift to big cog, adjust L limit screw if needed.
Cut the chain too short? That doesn't make sense...when the chain is on the smallest to smallest cog the chain looks like it could almost fall off. Is there supposed to be a ton of slack when installing on the biggest cogs? I was under the impression it was supposed to be tight on the biggest to biggest cogs. That's how my local bike shop told me to install it....
Incidentally, it's not wanting to change gears on it's own...It's just skipping a tooth when riding uphill.