imcorn

Hey all!
I have a recently purchased a 1993 Nishiki Meridian, about 1-2 weeks ago, and have been riding it frequently. Since I am pretty new to cycling I don't know too much about specifics, so here is what I could find on the internet about the bike, https://www.airfreetires.com/Specs/St...dian&Year=1993 . Anyways everything was running fine until about 2 days ago.

Now heres the problem. When trying to coast my chain tends to get loose and I have no clue what has been the problem. Aside from when coasting when I try to back pedal the chain also gets loose. When it gets loose and I try to pedal again, it takes awhile for the chain to get back into place so I can get moving again. Basically it takes about 2-5 revolution to get it back going again. Since the problem, I have looked at my bike to see any problem I could find. From, what I saw it looked as if the rear derailleur wouldn't pull any slack made fast enough.

So does anyone know what the problem could be? If you guys need any pictures or what not I can try to take some. Thanks in advanced!

mcoomer

I suspect that your bearing are tight on the rear wheel. If you have too much tension on the bearings, or if they've been sitting for awhile and the lube has turned to sludge your freewheel body won't work properly. If you're comfortable doing it I would suggest disassembling the freewheel, cleaning it, relubing, and retensioning the bearings. Since you're new to cycling this may be one that you want to take to the shop. Find one that will let you watch what they're doing and you'll be on your way to being able to properly maintain your bike.

geo8rge

'Basically it takes about 2-5 revolution to get it back going again. "

I would guess that you are in the wrong gear and or not pedaling fast enough. You have to spin the rear cassette faster than the rear wheel is spinning to engage it.

Chain tension can be chanaged by adjusting the derailer, or changing the length.

tellyho

The pawls in your freehub / freewheel (not sure on this bike) could be gummed up as well, solved with a little WD 40 into the workings.

imcorn

I have tried all the gears and the same problem still arises, but thanks for your input. I will try the other suggestions later today so thanks for all the replies!

imcorn

If it is any relevant a few days before the problem came up, I did attempt to take my rear wheel out along with whatever was inside the hub, not including the ball bearings itself, to easily clean off any rust found on my spokes. All on the wheel was the freewheel. Could the problem have been made from when I was putting everything together too tightly/loosely? But after I had done this I did ride for a few hours and it didn't come up until the following day.

Thanks for any response