Originally Posted by
p2templin
The next day, I was told that I'd received a Bushnell eccentric free of charge, as the daVinci eccentric wasn't making proper contact with our frame, and that Bushnell was investigating the daVinci eccentric for patent infringement. I know nothing further regarding the state of those matters, but I'm certainly unhappy that the daVinci eccentric has less (and insufficient) gripping area in a daVinci frame than the Bushnell product it perhaps copied.
Here's a thought, before making too many assumptions and assertions based on those assumptions, give Todd a call at daVinci and (a) see if you can learn why your eccentric may have been creaking, (b) what may have caused it to "fail", (c) understand more about the design of your original eccentric, and (d) gain some insight to balance what you were told at R&E about the design history & rights. It is true that R&E now owns all of Bushnell's former intellectual property and brand... and that you can usually find Dennis & Jenny Bushnell at R&E.
FWIW, the Bushnell eccentrics are also prone to creaking if they're not properly prepped and torqued, and then re-torqued now and again... noting we own/have owned tandems that have used four different models of the Bushnell eccentrics. BTW, how did your eccentric fail, i.e., what actually happened and what caused it? I only know of one failure mode for a Bushnell eccentric that I would assume is true for the daVinci and it requires the user to over-torque the tension screw.
Good on the folks at R&E (Dan?) for sending you on your way with a new Bushnell eccentric. R&E is an awesome shop.