As the title says, it seems like my chain slips way too often. This happens if I pedal hard, go uphill, or ride at an inappropriate gear (even when not pedaling hard).
Besides that, it seems like my chain loosens when changing gears. I am not talking about it loosening for a bit - I mean it doesn't even fix itself when I pedal. I need to change gears further for it to 'fix' itself.
What should I do? Thanks.
Sounds like you need a new chain and cog. It is badly worn and can result in your injury.
As well as a service on the derailleur ( whole bike service would be best).
I would say you either have an extremely worn out cassette and chain, or lack of tension in the rear derailleur. Possibly exacerbated by the gear indexing being out of adjustment.
You can inspect the cassette sprockets for wear. Very worn teeth will be asymmetrical and look like a shark fin. A Google search will yield images of worn sprockets. Check the front chainrings at the same time.
If the cassette, chain and chainrings are worn they simply have to be replaced.
There are two tensioning springs in a rear derailleur known as the A and B springs. The A spring rotates the cage, the B spring tensions rotates the whole derailleur relative to the bike frame. Either could be broken. The B spring is adjusted by the 'B screw', this might be slackened off far too much.
Change gears onto the smallest sprocket and chainring, then check to see if the derailleur and cage have any spring tension. You can Google for how to adjust the B screw. If either spring is broken you will probably need to replace the derailleur.
