Hi Les,

Thanks very much for the reply.

I've had another look at the bike but it's left me scratching my head somewhat.

The chain is indeed tight- i'm not sure how tight it's supposed to be but there's not very much up and down movement at all. To my eye, the wheel looks to be central in the frame but i don't know how alignment is measured correctly.

It looks like the chain is designed to run quite closely to the frame anyway and mine probably only needs moving across maybe 2-3mm. If the wheel is straight and the chain is tight, is there anything else that could be causing the problem?

It's a shame there are no decent local shops around here or as you say i could have taken it back to get sorted.

I think i'm going to pluck up the courage to try what you've suggested and hope i don't make things any worse. Just a couple of questions... how and where do i undo the gear cable from? Also, i can't figure out how to get to the drive side wheel nut once the black cover is off- does the other black plastic thing lift off once the gear cable is released?

Thanks again for the help.

Matt