I don't think I understand the problem.
Thanks Knotted, this states exactly my position. Ask me anything about head and neck anatomy, breath support needed for phonation, the production of consonants, and tricking kids with autism into talking, but bring up anything in the realm of "mechanical advantage" or even remembering how old I am when it doesn't end in a zero, I will glaze like a donut.

Some of the assembly of this bike may have been done by chimpanzees, full grown grouchy ones, not consciencious young ones with underwear and good tools. The cable was messed up and the straddle wire was smashed in an odd way.

LBS guy looked at it and said there was no way to put a barrel adjuster on because of the angle noodle ... and cabling... or something.

Since my previous post, DH took a closer look, and saw that the pads were badly misaligned.

Since I can't really ride right now anyway, we have some time to tinker.

I think Brewer has a secret (or not so secret) desire to play with a travel agent, because the new Co-motion tandems have them.