There is nothing especially "tricky" about setting up a timing chain. You do need a pin spanner, the same one used on traditional BBs. The front BB has what is called an "eccentric", which is an ovalized BB. Set the eccentric to the shortest length, then fit the chain over the chainring and use the pin spanner to turn the eccentric and tighten the chain, then use a 5mm allen wrench to tighten the shell. You will need two chains yoked together for the timing chain. I tend to buy a new drive chain every year and recycle the older one onto the timing chain. Our tandem has an extra long rear TT which gives us a boom tube which is between links. One less is too short, one more too tight. I have delt with this by fitting a 50T chainring in the middle of the timing chain. It takes up the extra slack, spins in place, and creates conversation on the road.
Michael On Friday, October 20, 2017 at 8:55:18 AM UTC-4, Tim wrote: > > I just ordered the wheels and stoker Bosco bars from Riv for the tandem. I > got the cranks when I was in Walnut Creek over the summer so I have all of > the Riv-specific parts I need. I plan on taking Grants suggestion of having > it assembled at an LBS. I thought about doing it myself. I'm a somewhat > competent mechanic. I've built up 2 Riv's and do almost all of my own work > (I get stumped or lazy occasionally, though.) When I talked to Roman > yesterday he said getting the timing chain tensioned correctly was one > pitfall on tandems. Are there others? I guess I'm considering doing the > work myself since it is always rewarding when it works. Otherwise, I need > to find out which LBS has tandem experience here in KC. To be quite honest, > when I've had adjustments on my other bikes made at the LBS, their work is > no better than mine. And I see Sheldon has instructions on the timing chain > setup. Bottom line: DYI assembly or not? How much rocket science is > involved? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
