Originally Posted by
roccitman
Thank you, will do! I have ordered the adapter to get the old Truvativ lockring off, so we'll have to wait for that first, heh.
Good luck!
Before you re-install the eccentric, clean everything very well and liberally grease the wedges, bolt, and BB shell. About once a year, depending on how wet it is where you're riding, disassemble and regrease again. The problem is that there's no seal or sleeve in the frame, so the wedges are exposed to any grit or moisture that gets in there. I've also found that I don't need to torque the BB as much as Cannondale recommends, which makes removal easier. About 5 Nm seems sufficient, even on my 29er MTB tandem.
FYI, I did almost everything wrong when I tried to re-adjust my chain tension the first few times, including hammering on the bolt. Fortunately, I didn't bugger up the threads--but that was just dumb luck. The issue was that some metal filings, presumably left over from manufacturing, got jammed between the BB shell and the eccentric--making it really hard to loosen the wedges. Once I removed the eccentric, I removed both seat posts and did my best to clean the inside of the frame with compressed air, aggressive shaking, and long strips of rags. Amazing how much junk was in there! Thus, I learned the hard way to keep things really clean and lubed. I really wish that I'd seen this thread earlier!
Last, but not least, if you end up damaging your eccentric, Mel at Tandems East can probably fix it. The older-style eccentric has a simple c-clip in a groove that holds the bolt head when you spin out the bolt. If you apply too much torque trying to move the wedges, the groove can get rounded--which means that the c-clip and bolt just pop out before the wedges release. To fix it, Mel can fit a little plate with a hole in it to the eccentric, so the bolt head has something far studier to push against. Cannondale replaced the c-clip with a proper open-ended nut in later bikes, but Mel's solution is inexpensive and bulletproof insurance if you have the older style--and I highly recommend sending him any older eccentrics for the upgrade. My Cannondale MTB tandem has the older style (with Mel's fix), and my newer T2 road tandem has the newer design. The new design is solid, but Mel's fix is just as good.