Kalkhoff Chain Falling off - help !!

[timelordUK]

At the weekend I had a puncture in the rear wheel, as the innner tube was quite badly damaged I decided to replace it... This was straight forward. As the tensioner has been making a noise for a while now I decided, whilst i was covered in oil, to give it a good clean and lube it up.

Result - nice quiet ride... brilliant I thought....
However, on the journey to work the next day the chain fell off twice..... both times under load whilst climbing a hill. Both times quite frightening as it sent me all over the road!! Until this point it had never happened before, so I am assuming it is something I have done.

When i got to work... I checked the gears, they were out of adjustment a bit, so I aligned them again and I also loosened the tensioner to it sprung back more freely. Is there anything else i should check?

regards

Timelord

 

[Fecn]

I'd check that tensioner again as it seems to give all sorts of problems. I dismantled mine and added an extra washer to reduce the friction as when it gets 'sticky' then the chain keeps falling off.

The other thing worth checking is for bits of stick/leaves/twigs up inside the chain cover. That's caused my chain to skip a few times too.

 

[tillson]

I also loosened the tensioner to it sprung back more freely. Is there anything else i should check?

I’m not sure what you mean by loosened the tensioner. The bolt that the arm pivots about can be tightened without it having an effect on how freely the arm moves. If the bolt is “pinching” the arm and stopping it from swinging then you may have re-assembled it incorrectly. It’s a simple affair, and it should be self evident in which sequence the washers are placed on the bolt.

I find a squirt of GT85 or similar on the spring / pivot once a week works a treat. Oil tends to clog up with dirt and then the arm starts to pick up on the bolt.