A Change of Plan
I was up until 2AM, thinking about the arrangement of the Margherita. Ken had mentioned that it was more appropriate for a 1946 bike, and I remember reading that there was a 5-speed version after the war. I re-examined the spacing of the shifting fingers, and yes... there's enough room to use a 5-speed freewheel. I replaced the 3-speed with the only available unit, 14-18 Regina Corsa.
Now I needed to adjust the chain length, and while doing so discovered I'd been using a Sedisport chain. Perhaps it's low profile and extreme flexibility were causing the problems at the pulley, so I replaced it with a Regina Corsa black chain, and removed the pulley (carefully this time!).
I replaced the Vitt pulley with a toothed Campy nylon pulley, hoping it might help pick the chain up correctly. At the same time, I decided on a field modification to the chain retainer... it's horseshoe shape is too wide, allowing the chain to jam between pulley and retainer. There's a handy hole at the bottom, so I'll machine a smaller horseshoe to fit inside the existing one, and anchor it in place with a screw through that bottom hole.
The roadtest will have to wait until tomorrow.
Aldo Ross