Chain Gang Question
 

My wife caught sweater in her chain on her catrike villager. We were out on a ride at the time.
Were able to back the bike up and get the sweater out.

But now the bottom chain no longer stands straight up... leans slightly to the right. Gears still
shift fine. I took it to the local shop who sold us the bike and they said it was OK as long as
the gears still shift OK.

I just have this nagging thought that: "this just ain't right"... any opinions out there?
Would really appreciate your knowlege on this matter.

Thanks,
Scubaquarius

Where exactly on the chain run did your wife catch her sweater? Did ithappen to catch in the return run by the derailleur?

If that's the case, I'm wondering if she bent her derailleur arm or the derailleur hanger. That's not too uncommon. Tru shifting her trike into a gear combination that makes the derailleur arm point straight down. Then look at her derailleur arm from behind her trike. If the arm looks like it is pointing toward the rear wheel, there's your problem. If that's the case it will probably shift kind of okay but not index to my satisfaction.

Bike shops have a tool for re-aligning that issue away, by the way.

Actually, a small portion of her sweater caught in the chain where it enters the plastic tube and only went in about 2 or 3 inches,
no where near the derailleur.

Thanks for the tip. I will look closely at the derailleur. (I'm guessing the bike shop just didn't feel it was that important. Also, they
just started carrying recumbents. In fact, the one we purchased was the first one they had ever put together.)

Scubaquarius

I'm guessing your wife caught the sweater in the return (lower) chain tube. Both tubes are only held in place at the other end of the tubes on most Catrike models. You might check and see if anything small is still caught in the chain tube though even that is doubtful as the chain would normally pull stuff through or stop the chain from going through easily. It is unlikely you damaged the rear derailleur. Bending the derailleur hangar takes a lot of force. I'd trust the judgement of the bike shop as they probably have dealt with more derailleur problems than most of us. With the exception of a longer chain and the chain tubes being there the drive train is identical to what is found on regular bikes.

It's normal for the chain to 'twist' slightly going in/out of the chain tube. It's not really an issue. Maybe rotating the chain tube slightly will help?

Thanks to both VegasTriker and BlazingPedals, Both of your responses pointed to the chain tube, which the mechanics at my bike shop
had not bothered to inspect. Your emails guided me to inspect the chain tube on my wife's Catrike Villager. Low and behold, what do I
find? The rear strap which holds the chain tube to the frame had gotten torn loose in the sweater fiasco and that's why the chain was
leaning rightward: the chain tube had come loose and was hanging down at the rear. Voila!

The mechanics at my local shop missed it. But my compatriates on bikeforums.net led me right to the problem. I will order the parts
to repair. I just knew something wasn't right with that chain :) !

Thanks for your expertise,
Scubaquarius