New bike, question about chain rubbing on derailleur?

It's a discount store bicycle - or as I call them BSO - Bicycle Shaped Object. Some minimum wage "associate" slapped it together in 15 minutes or less. They do NOT check them for proper alignment of anything before placing them on the showroom floor. They just slap 'em together & shove 'em out the door. What did you expect for $164.00 minus the $5.00? Why do you think Wally World & other discount stores list them in the "Toy Department"? I type the same thing on this website day-after-day-after-day... REAL bicycle shops do NOT sell toys & Toys 'R Us does NOT sell REAL bicycles. Neither does Wally World, K-Mart, Target, etc. Take it back. Get a full refund. Don't get another one - just walk out the door with the money. Then go see your authorized, local, friendly, neighborhood bicycle shop. This is where real mechanics take up to & sometimes over an hour assembling, tuning & test riding every single bike before it's placed on the showroom floor. You will also get professional sales help & a FREE after the sale warranty for a follow up tune-up/check-up on the bike. Some shops do this only once, some for a year, some for LIFE! 2nd link below. “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.” – Ben Franklin

It's a discount store bicycle - or as I call them BSO - Bicycle Shaped Object. Some minimum wage "associate" slapped it together in 15 minutes or less. They do NOT check them for proper alignment of anything before placing them on the showroom floor. They just slap 'em together & shove 'em out the door. What did you expect for $164.00 minus the $5.00? Why do you think Wally World & other discount stores list them in the "Toy Department"? I type the same thing on this website day-after-day-after-day... REAL bicycle shops do NOT sell toys & Toys 'R Us does NOT sell REAL bicycles. Neither does Wally World, K-Mart, Target, etc. Take it back. Get a full refund. Don't get another one - just walk out the door with the money. Then go see your authorized, local, friendly, neighborhood bicycle shop. This is where real mechanics take up to & sometimes over an hour assembling, tuning & test riding every single bike before it's placed on the showroom floor. You will also get professional sales help & a FREE after the sale warranty for a follow up tune-up/check-up on the bike. Some shops do this only once, some for a year, some for LIFE! 2nd link below. “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.” – Ben Franklin

Theres two main things causing this problem. 1.) the bike is cheap, which means it has garbage entry level shifter components. Can I assume that they are grip shifters (the ones you twist)? Thats a clear sign that they are bottom of the line components. Cheap components like that are fickle. They tend to be very stubborn in terms of getting them properly adjusted. Keeping them properly adjusted is even worse. It seems like every other week there will be a problem with them, either a clicking noise or a rubbing noise or they're just not shifting when they're supposed to. This all leads to the 2nd problem... 2.) You got it from wal-mart. Do you think anyone at wal-mart cares about their job? Do you think they know anything about bikes? Do you think they took the time to properly inspect the bike? I would bet you the cost of a tune-up that your wheels have a little bit of wobble, the brakes aren't as tight as they should be, your front crank set probably has a small wobble, and theres probably some screws that haven't been properly torqued down the right amount. Oh and they obviously botched it when setting up your shifters. A little rub is normal if you're in say 1-6/7 or 2-1or 2-7 or 3-1. This is called cross chaining. it means the chain on your bike is being pulled at an angle from the further out point of the bike to the furthest in point. 1st gear on your front should be used with 1-4 2nd should be used with 2-6 3rd should be used with 3-7. Better bikes, with better components and proper set up often times won't even have any rubbing noise when they're cross chaining it, its just bad for the chain regardless of any noise. You're experiencing rub a bit too much, which tells me it just wasn't adjusted properly. Is your left shifter a grip shifter? Does it only have 3 clicks or are there numerous clicks (positions)? Like when you shift it from 1 to 2 does it just make one "click" or does it go "click click click click" and you just stop it when you feel it shift into 2nd? Either way, a proper bike tech would set it up so that it is in the "sweet spot" and you don't have the rubbing noise. Sorry mate, you bought a piece of crap bike. You don't have to drop big bucks but this bike is honestly worthless. You could have gotten a decent bike for around $299 and never had a single problem with it. Instead you tried to be cheap and you're stuck with a heavy piece of junk. Its more cost effective in the long run to just get a quality piece of machinery.

Theres two main things causing this problem. 1.) the bike is cheap, which means it has garbage entry level shifter components. Can I assume that they are grip shifters (the ones you twist)? Thats a clear sign that they are bottom of the line components. Cheap components like that are fickle. They tend to be very stubborn in terms of getting them properly adjusted. Keeping them properly adjusted is even worse. It seems like every other week there will be a problem with them, either a clicking noise or a rubbing noise or they're just not shifting when they're supposed to. This all leads to the 2nd problem... 2.) You got it from wal-mart. Do you think anyone at wal-mart cares about their job? Do you think they know anything about bikes? Do you think they took the time to properly inspect the bike? I would bet you the cost of a tune-up that your wheels have a little bit of wobble, the brakes aren't as tight as they should be, your front crank set probably has a small wobble, and theres probably some screws that haven't been properly torqued down the right amount. Oh and they obviously botched it when setting up your shifters. A little rub is normal if you're in say 1-6/7 or 2-1or 2-7 or 3-1. This is called cross chaining. it means the chain on your bike is being pulled at an angle from the further out point of the bike to the furthest in point. 1st gear on your front should be used with 1-4 2nd should be used with 2-6 3rd should be used with 3-7. Better bikes, with better components and proper set up often times won't even have any rubbing noise when they're cross chaining it, its just bad for the chain regardless of any noise. You're experiencing rub a bit too much, which tells me it just wasn't adjusted properly. Is your left shifter a grip shifter? Does it only have 3 clicks or are there numerous clicks (positions)? Like when you shift it from 1 to 2 does it just make one "click" or does it go "click click click click" and you just stop it when you feel it shift into 2nd? Either way, a proper bike tech would set it up so that it is in the "sweet spot" and you don't have the rubbing noise. Sorry mate, you bought a piece of crap bike. You don't have to drop big bucks but this bike is honestly worthless. You could have gotten a decent bike for around $299 and never had a single problem with it. Instead you tried to be cheap and you're stuck with a heavy piece of junk. Its more cost effective in the long run to just get a quality piece of machinery.

With the left shifter on 2 ( center front sprocket ) the chain should only rub the front derailleur on the lower or higher gears if not properly adjusted not both. Either the front derailleur is set at an angle or the chain rings are wobbling back an forth. I have a Schwinn that I bought years ago from Walmart and the front gears wobbled so much you could never get it to work right. I called Schwinn and they sent me a new chain ring set with crank arms. It work great after that. Turn the pedals backwards and watch the front sprockets they should run straight and true. If they move back an forth return the bike it takes a special tool to remove the crank arms and Walmart doesn't do any repairs..

Well it certainly looks like you've had your lectures for the day. If you happen to live in the Phoenix area, I'd be glad to take a look at your bike for free, and I'll even teach you how to shift.

Turn the pedals backwards and watch the front sprockets

You've got two very good answers from Old Hippie and DS, so I won't repeat all of what they have said. I know that these aren't the answers you wanted, but they are right. It's a false economy to buy a cheap cycle, especially when you don't know how to maintain it yourself. It'll cost you more in maintenance costs in the first 12 months than you would have needed to buy a good quality cycle. If you can take it back for a refund, then do that, and look around local cycle stores for a good quality entry level cycle. It won't be that much more than what you paid for the one you have, but will be a better cycle, and you'll have the backup of the store you bought it from.

You've got two very good answers from Old Hippie and DS, so I won't repeat all of what they have said. I know that these aren't the answers you wanted, but they are right. It's a false economy to buy a cheap cycle, especially when you don't know how to maintain it yourself. It'll cost you more in maintenance costs in the first 12 months than you would have needed to buy a good quality cycle. If you can take it back for a refund, then do that, and look around local cycle stores for a good quality entry level cycle. It won't be that much more than what you paid for the one you have, but will be a better cycle, and you'll have the backup of the store you bought it from.