Freerojo

Hi, this is the first post of my rebuild of a 1996 Cannondale RT2000 tandem. The original owners passed away and last summer the family contacted my bicycle club to offer it for free. My wife and I are avid cyclists and she wanted it so I contacted the family. This is our first tandem. This particular model was reviewed in Tandem Magazine Tandem Magazine Onine, Roadtest Cannondale RT 2000 . The tandem hadn't been used in awhile apparently and the tires were flat. I was concerned about the cockpit as I am fairly tall (6'2") and my wife is 5'2". Taking some measures ment and comparing those with my road bike I concluded that with some modifications this may work. Also the tandem came with touring rack and panniers as well!

I am swapping out the original bars and replacing with a Specialized bar I have. A Delta Pro stem riser will raise the bar for me. I didn't want to use the Dia brake levers or Shimano bar end shifters. Luckily I have a set of practically new Shimano 105 9-speed brifters. This will allow me to use Tektro 926 mini-v brakes with Kool Stop pads. I am also replacing the 8 speed casette with a 9 speed 11-30. In order for the road shifter to shift the Deore LX Triple FD I ordered a Jtek Shiftmate 7 adapter. The new tires will be Schwalbe Marathon GG. I replaced the Stokers seat post with a carbon one I had (the original was this sort of suspension post that was a mess. I put a Brooks Flyer saddle on for the Stoker and a Brooks B-17 for me. Per my wifes request I am swapping out the stokers drop bars with a straight bar we had from an older mountain bike.

The rear hub is a DT/Hugi star ratchet hub that was very, very loud. I took the hub apart (this particular DT/Hugi has an endcap that unscrews rather than pop-off like the newer ones) and it was fairly grungy inside. By cleaning everything and lightly smearing the special DT Swiss grease on the ratchets, springs ect...the ratchet is really quiet now. Now I am waiting for Amazon to deliver the cassette.

Here is the tandem with the stem and bar replaced. Getting the old stem off was a challenge as it was a different design. Notice the convoluted stokers seat post. The paint and frame are in excellent condition and I love the color. The tandem is now known as "Moby Grape"



The DT/Hugi rear hub



The NDS endcap pulls straight off (with effort!)


Unlike current models (mine appears to be a 95 DT/Hugi) the DS endcap srcrews off but you have to clamp the NDS axle in order to do so. What you see when you pull of the freehub. That spring pushes against the set of star ratchets. Notice the teeth inside the hub shell.


The star ratchets sitting in the freehub. One is init the other is tackily stuck to it. The ratchets havent been serviced in 24 years and the grease was more like a paste and you can see a lot of metal filings.


The star ratchets




I cleaned out the shell and inside the hub and degreased the ratchets and spring before giving it a light coating of DT Swiss grease. The grease is available on Amazon for $20 and comes in a canister the size of an old 35mm film can. The cartridge bearings in the hub seem fine and smooth. Perhaps next season I will replace those as I know have a better handle on how this freehub is put together.

Everything is put back together and it is soooooo quiet now. However I broke the serrated washer that rides on the hub axle and contacts with the drop out. Is there a name to this serrated washer? Will loctite work to glue the ends together?


This is the first installment of the Moby Grape project. If you have questions let me know.

lichtgrau

The washers you are looking for are called "Nord-Lock-Washers", at least here in Europe (Swedish patent).

https://www.nord-lock.com/nord-lock/

Freerojo

Thank you.

lichtgrau

Like that frame. Stile & color.

WPH

The cheap LifeLine bar tape from Wiggle - in purple - would look very nice with that paint.

Freerojo

I hadn’t thought about that, maybe next time I replace the bar tape. Went with black.