I am putting on a new timing chain. I have loosened the eccentric but would like to know the ideal position for a new chain.

Also, I would like to remove the eccentric to clean and grease but cannot budge the bolt holding the crank arm on. I will say that gorillas surely put this bike together because it took 2 guys at my lbs with 3 foot torque arm tools to remove the cassette lock ring so that I could put on a new cassette. Soo, other than bringing the bike to the shop is it usual for it to be so difficult to remove this bolt? It's an FSA gossamer crank and ebb.

thanks.

The ideal for a timing chain is usually set so that there is about 1/2 inch of vertical play in the chain. The idea is that when the cranks rotate any slight imperfections in the rings will still permit them to spin freely. If the eccentric is adjusted to too tight a tolerance and the rings are slightly out of round the chain may bind or actually derail. The other side of the setting is that a chain set too loosely may also derail itself under load.

If you take some time adjusting the eccentric and turning the cranks while the bike is held off the ground (preferably in a repair stand or even hung from the rafters in your garage) you'll be able to observe just how round the rings are and then decide how much play you want to establish.

Some tandem owners over-tighten everthing. I was guilty of this sin many times as a younger mechanic, but I learned over the 20 years I spent wrenching that "tight enough" is not too tight. Today torque wrenches make it a lot easier to establish "tight enough".

As for over-tightened crank bolts, they are a plague on humanity. There are any number of methods for getting them freed up: heat, carefully applied of course; penetrating lubricants; long torque assists etc. In every case be careful that the socket you are using is a very good fit so that you don't add to your misery by ruining the head of the crank bolt.

First shot? Use a long torque assist as you did with the cassette lock ring, being careful to control as many variables as possible, and making sure that you are indeed turning counter-clockwise. (I once broke a really good wrench by turning the wrong way, after breaking off the bolt head...That was a long day, but I never made the same mistake again.) Having a friend hold the bike upright will help. And, for the survival of your knuckles, make sure that you are carefully lined up with the wrench so that a suddenly loosened bolt does not send you off-balance.

Heat? Sometimes boiling water will help to free stuck bolts, but you may not want to try this because of the potential for scalding and then water everywhere. You might even end up dissolving grease in a sealed unit, so this is not necessarily a good idea unless you don't care about those bits. A heat gun can be useful, but again be careful because you don't want to get too much heat too near those lovely cranks. With really nice cranks and a good paint job on the line, heat should be a last resort.

Penetrating lubricants take time to work. The risk is that you may have too much oil getting into a sealed cartridge or other bearings so, care and patience again.

And, if that bolt is really tight you may have trouble with the crank removal too. Make sure you remove any washers before you apply the crank removal tool. It would be a shame to strip out those threads...a tiny bit of grease on the crank threads may help to get the crank removal tool well set. And, check to make sure that the threads on the tool are well lubricated too.

Good luck and check back to let us know how it goes.

OK, I plan to use the same number of chain links as original then tighten with the eccentric closest to 12 o'clock for the 1/2 inch vertical play. It would be great to raise my saddle a bit rather than lower it.

Plague on humanity is true. I have literally come from a bike shop and unable to open a quick release on a wheel. These guys are monsters.

I'm collecting tools: what do you recommend for a good all-around torque wrench? The specs for tightening, should I ever get that far, are on the crank/bb itself. As far as torque assist - not sure what to use because I have to hold the crank arm and move the bolt. Any suggestions welcome. Then again, the shop isn't very far away. This also points to doing stuff myself so I can undo what I've done and know how it was done!!

You could use a length of pipe the right diameter just to slide over the end of your wrench handle. This has been my favorite "cheater" for years. Some hardware stores sell short lengths of pipe to make pipe clamps cheaply so you won't have to lay out lots of cash.

Can you have someone hold the rear crank on the opposite side of the bike so that you can focus on lining yourself up "just so"? Even with years of experience on tandem wrenching I still like a second pair of hands for some operations so I don't lose my balance at the moment of victory by trying to catch the bike.

Take your time, plan ahead, and then you won't suffer the ill effects some of us have!

My knowledge of torque wrenches is not broad at all since we Canadians have different brand names for lots of these tools. However, if you head on over to https://forums.thepaceline.net/and search on torque wrenches there you should find lots of recommendations.

Here I apologise for being a gorilla in the shop in my early wrenching years; I have atoned for it many times over with bruised and skinned knuckles, broken tools, ruined parts and general frustration too.

It also may help to remove the pedal and put another cheater pipe over the crank arm. Have an assistant hold the crank steady with that cheater pipe while you work on the bolt with yours.