I always enjoy the replies that appear to be based on a single post I made. *looks at redlude*

@CACycling I think you're right, I decided to remove the pulleys and clean the cage and all those bits and pieces. Whilst doing so I found another location that looks similar to where I investigated the spring I mentioned earlier. This one has two holes though, and it also doesn't appear to have any spring catch poking through either of them. So that would fit the bill for losing ALL spring tension. I can't see any obvious way of opening this spring cylinder to gaze upon the spring itself though. Any tips or maybe just telling me what this spring is called will probably help speed me up in my research.