[Lelandjt]

I thought you guys might get a kick out of this. I did some wrenching and truck driving for a tandem tour that came to the island put on by Santana Tandems. Several had these Santana made 255mm rear rotors and caliper mounts and two featured the photographed carbon/Ti frame with Ti couplings (the bike packs in a suitcase) with custom geo. They use the co-molded carbon/Ti tubes with intricate cutouts at their junctions (ExoGrid) that was first seen on Titus bikes several years ago. MSRP? $14,000 for the frame. Add in the electronic Dura-ace drivetrain and mostly carbon parts and they were easily the most expensive bikes I've laid hands on*. The rotors and caliper adapters are machined in house and work with any normal hub and caliper (your frame clears a 10" rotor, right?).

*Too bad from the front seat the chainstays felt too long and from the back seat the reach was a stretch.

What I learned: You can make more money selling "couple's time" and a lifestyle to rich middle age+ people that slinging gravity bikes to 15-35 year olds.

 

[norbar]

If it was german I wouldn't be surprised. Went to bike expo in Munich a few years ago and there were 3 halls. 50% of them were road + mtb with very little gravity oriented stuff but the rest were strange,expensive stuff like an offroad scooter/backpack or a 24'' slick wheel downhill bike with an assisted pedalling motor (it got an award ffs).

 

[HardtailHack]

I'm sure you could hunt down some Red Raven rotors and adaptors for about $3 if you looked hard enough.

That does sound pretty impressive and is possibly the best folding bike I have seen.

Not sure what use this would be but I'd imagine it wouldn't be cheap.

 

[norbar]

I'm sure you could hunt down some Red Raven rotors and adaptors for about $3 if you looked hard enough.

That does sound pretty impressive and is possibly the best folding bike I have seen.

Not sure what use this would be but I'd imagine it wouldn't be cheap.

Unless you ride with someone who is blind or has some other disability I never understood people riding off road tandems. It's like a drag race double decker bus.

 

[aenema]

Love that they have all that money invested and running cable actuated disk brakes. Wonder if that is to make break down easier to fit in that fabled suitcase...

 

[aenema]

And the only reason I would do tandem mountain biking would be to scare the crap out of the person behind. Maybe take turns to see who throws in the towel first. I talk big talk though, that would be terrifying.

 

[UncleHowie]

And the only reason I would do tandem mountain biking would be to scare the crap out of the person behind.

Damn that sounds like fun

 

[Lelandjt]

They said that at a past tour one couple included a blind guy. He pedaled in back while his wife "captained" (I've spent too long around these tandem freaks and picked up their lingo) but he assembled the bike and did all the adjusting. They siad he was the best mechanic there, but only on his own bike that he's familiar with. It sounds kinda cool being that familiar with your setup that you can build and tune it by memory and sound.

 

[blindboxx2334]

hahahaha tandem bike jargon. just when you thought youve heard it all

 

[bumster22]

Free market FTW

 

[blackohio]

i bet tandem middle aged white people also drive jags with gloves on.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

What I learned: You can make more money selling "couple's time" and a lifestyle to rich middle age+ people that slinging gravity bikes to 15-35 year olds.

exactly...

how many 15-25yo guys can afford the $5000 mid-range bikes of today?

 

[frorider]

Not many. So they just steal one, or buy a stolen one.

My parents have a devinci tandem. Only 10k I think. Main feature is that rear pedals have a freewheel connection to front, so either rider can coast.

 

[wholesalestunna]

exactly...

how many 15-25yo guys can afford the $5000 mid-range bikes of today?

Daggum I'm 27, have a career, and I still can't afford them.

 

[Lelandjt]

Not many. So they just steal one, or buy a stolen one.

My parents have a devinci tandem. Only 10k I think. Main feature is that rear pedals have a freewheel connection to front, so either rider can coast.

There were several of those in attendance. In place of chainrings they use 4 cogs from a cassette. Pretty wild looking arrangement. They all used Campy shifters mated to Sram X9 derailleurs with a custom machined cable guide/arm to modify the pull ratio. Today I'm going to the other side to ride Makawao Forest Trails, do some kiting, then come back and surf the Lahaina Harbor wave until I see their ferry coming back from Molokai. I then have to help box all these contraptions. I've seen a lot of frames with couplers but never actually took them apart so I'm looking forward to it.

 

[toowacky]

They said he was the best mechanic there, but only on his own bike that he's familiar with. It sounds kinda cool being that familiar with your setup that you can build and tune it by memory and sound.

Pretty rad, a couple of levels of trust-- trust of the captain from the blind passenger ("stoker"?), and of the blind mechanic by the captain.

I can just envision the truing of a wheel by this mechanic... like that Easton acoustic wheel tuning video to a whole 'nother level.