Grabbed a CS Wave harness to check how to remove the rope and noticed 2 things:
1. In my last post I lied about the buckles... they are plastic, not metal as I stated. Still, getting it on and tight is not an issue.
2. Apparently the factory got a little carried away with the glue on some of these spreader bars. In short, it can be a pain to access the rope to add a ring or adjust/replace the rope. I have two solutions for you, the official one which some may find frustrating and the unofficial method which is less "clean" but also less frustrating.
Official recommended method to access the rope:
Start on the left side (as you wear it), pull the pad away from the plate. The included hook knife is a pretty good size to hold this space open so you can work on the rope. There is a metal plate in there along with a few inches of spare rope you can feed through the plate in order to free up some slack across the front of the spreader bar.
Then move to the right side (as you wear it). Same deal, pull back the pad. It can help to have some tweezers or needle nose pliers to reach in and grab the knotted end of the rope, pull out that excess slack you created on the other side, untie the knot, pull the line out the front and then either replace the line or add the ring or whatever you want to do, reinsert and tie off. Remove the slack from the other side, using the plate, if preferred.
Unofficial workaround:
Using a blade and straightedge cut a flap (mine is 2.75"/7cm long by 1.25"/3cm tall. Feel free to go shorter and/or move it outboard if these dimensions cause interference with the screwholes on smaller bars... I was winging this and am now thinking I could easily work with smaller flaps). Make two slices lengthwise and one short vertical slice on the outer edge so the flap is able to hinge on the inner edge (just see photos below). To make sure you don't cut the rope just make sure you're approx centered on the screw holes and make sure the vertical slice is no more than 1.25"/3cm from the edge of the pad. Do this on both sides et voile, easy access.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me or your dealer.
-Dan