I guess I was dumb enough to rationalize with myself that I didnt need an expensive bike frame since Im not planning to get "hardcore" with it.

I just settled for a frame in good condition and rode nice without prior research about brands and build qualities. I guess the murray was a department store road bike with poor build quality? Is there anything else really that bad with murray frames?

Im only planning to ride this bike during time off from school and during free time. Im not planning to use it every single day to school or anything, I have a car for that.

I got some weinmann deep V style wheels since they look nice. Im dumb for wayover spending on this bike. UGH.

I feel like I might as well jsut continue. As bigvegan put it, im going to polish this turd. Atleast I know itll be my turd with my style.

I checked the chain. The chain is really straight and alined from the cog to the chainring. Its not varying much more than 1mm. The chain is tight, I did the walking method but I guess my bike has a vertical dropout. Its tight, nonetheless.

Im going to see if I can tweek the bb/crank before I resort to changing everything out.

thanks everyone for the help! Ill be back to ask more about what I can do!