Rear wheel and gears on the Kingcycle. Gear changing had been a bit dodgy so I had a proper look. The derailleur must have had a knock at some point, although I hadn't realised. It was a bit bent, and wouldn't go into top gear. The frame hanger wasn't affected so just a matter of swapping for a 'new' derailleur - a nice Shimano RSX touring long cage from the spares box.
Checked the wheel while I was on, hub bearings sounded rough. I couldn't get the freewheel off, and rim quite worn, so a new wheel ordered. It is a basic Shimano hub and traditional single wall alloy rim in keeping with a 1990's bike, designed for 135mm dropouts and up to 10 speed cassette. Fitting it to the Kingcycle involved a couple of spacers to fit the 7 speed cassette. Then a shorter axle spacer on the non-drive side; cutting a bit off the non-drive side of the axle so that the quick release gripped properly; and adjusting the dishing on the wheel to centre the rim.
Tyre was a bit worn with a couple of big cuts, so I fitted a new tyre as well. Test ride this morning using a hilly 38 mile route from home. All seemed to work well and I now have the full range of gears indexing reasonably well.
On the way home I noticed that the front mudguard was a bit loose, looks like the rivets on the mudguard stay bracket have corroded. That's tomorrows task. And if I could just sort out that intermittent creaking noise .....