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Tandem ideas??

BMXman

BMXman

I wish I was Canadian
Sep 8, 2001
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Victoria, BC
I would like to hear from Monkey's who actually own or have owned a tandem bike. My wife says she will go on more rides with me if we had a tandem so I'm all for it. I would like to get something pretty sturdy as I plan on setting it up for all around trailriding. I would like FS since she will be on the back most of the time but I'm ok with a HT as well. I'm just stoked she's cool with me building another bike....and if it gets us out together on more rides...that's even better....D
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
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Cannondale is probably the best production tandem available.

There are plenty of good custom builders, but bring the $$$.
 
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patineto

The RM Mad Scientist
Feb 19, 2002
935
0
berkeley, ca
sanjuro said:
Cannondale is probably the best production tandem available.

There are plenty of good custom builders, but bring the $$$.
Click to expand...
Cannondale is not even close to be the best tandem manufacture maybe is popular (in the way trek is popular for the general population) but for sure not the best, in fact the best Offroad tandems are made of steel since they are far more compliant (passive suspension) and specially less prone to fatigue do to the incredible twisting forces encounter riding a tandem in the dirt...
for the road aluminum, titanium, carbon and even bambo as just fine, for the dirt is a whole diferent story

I have many hours riding tandems on trails, specially love rolling single tracks since tandems are extremlly fast and aloo super dificult to steer, so even the easiest road becomes a total roller coaster ride , most of the time i spend on one of the two Ibis tandems i own over the years (currentlly I have a Red "cousin it") but also test rode and even race many others including Full suspension tandems and let me tell you a full suspension tandem (not a "COnfort" suspension but a performance suspension) is a total pain and the wrost compromise, reason why i stay away from full suspension tandems, just imagine the over all height require for the bottom brackets to clear obstacles (about 16"-17" from the ground to the BB) ergo the seat height becomes astronomically high (you do need to be seated to pedal a tandem) plus the bike bounces up and down and fore and aft wasting a incredible amount of energy specially if you are prone to stand up and pedal..

I will recomend you to find a used rigid tandem made of steel like Burley samba or picante or some of the santana's (I can keep a eye for you, if you want and give me your measurements) In fact I saw a really nice and beautyful
Bernny Mikkelsen mountain tandem the other day at craigslist

this Forum is a little Boring and conservative but for sure a good place to start..
 
splat

splat

Nam I am
Apr 27, 2002
14,763
345
Well Maybe Windows is Bearable ! Unix Rules !
WellI have a Rigid Burley Rock & Roll Tandem , and right now it is set up for road. My wife hasn't been on it in a while , because my son decided he liked it soo much.

but If you are worried about bumps for you, then tripple it for her! Remeber the Stoker is Blind , they can't see the bumps before they come. as a matter of fact when My wife was riding the back , we had a softride beam on it for her.

a couple things to rember when riding a tandem.
  • Parts wear out 4 times faster
  • Stoker is blind, they don't see the bumps you need to tell them
  • They Go fast , real fast! , those who say they are slowere on up hill, Lie!
  • they turn like a tractor trailer
  • Co-operation and trust are needed Big time !!!
  • They are FUN !!!!!
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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patineto said:
Cannondale is not even close to be the best tandem manufacture maybe is popular (in the way trek is popular for the general population)
Click to expand...
Uh, thank you for misquoting me.

For a production company, i.e. not a smaller builder, Cannondale does a great job with their frames in terms of finishing welds and QC. I could also list a bunch of smaller builders which would do a better job for a much higher price.

For another thing, Trek does not offer a mountain tandem. I also like their limited sizing (3 sizes fit all). And what country are their tandems made in? Don't assume the USA.

Finally, if you want to get the best, here it is:

 
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patineto

The RM Mad Scientist
Feb 19, 2002
935
0
berkeley, ca
sanjuro said:
Uh, thank you for misquoting me.

For a production company, i.e. not a smaller builder, Cannondale does a great job with their frames in terms of finishing welds and QC. I could also list a bunch of smaller builders which would do a better job for a much higher price.

For another thing, Trek does not offer a mountain tandem. I also like their limited sizing (3 sizes fit all). And what country are their tandems made in? Don't assume the USA.

Finally, if you want to get the best, here it is:

Click to expand...
Uppsss... Sorry I cut your Quote...

Burley, santana among other are mass produce machines, but also you can find extremlly nice value price machines coming from KHS, raleigh, specialized,,etc

anyway sorry again if i did not put your quote in the full context..

now if you want tandems here are a few.....

Nicolai little toy


check the height of the bottom brakets when they are compress..




Aluminum and suspension but a Yeti after all


personally I like this one


I got to ride a Cinelli tandem on the velodrome a few times and was pretty much the fastest bike i ever being on


actually how about this

A calffe tandem made out of bambo and carbon fibre


i think just the frame goes for $7000 dollars.
 
LordOpie

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
if you want to save money and you want her to be as comfortable as possible, get a HT and a Cane Creek Thudbuster saddlepost :)

PS: I was looking at this tandem on ebay for $200 for my girl and me for around town...

 
BMXman

BMXman

I wish I was Canadian
Sep 8, 2001
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Victoria, BC
Now that I have been loking around.... I'm more inclined to get a HT....I would prefer steel as well...still gathering info...D
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

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Sep 13, 2004
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Toga Bikes in NYC had an 8 person tandem. I heard it was made from plumbing pipes and 8 people could get it going for about 20 feet before a chain deraillment.

I am curious about one thing: is suspension really important for a mtn tandem? I would be scared to do anything technical, but does the suspension just smooth out the ride?
 
splat

splat

Nam I am
Apr 27, 2002
14,763
345
Well Maybe Windows is Bearable ! Unix Rules !
sanjuro said:
I am curious about one thing: is suspension really important for a mtn tandem? I would be scared to do anything technical, but does the suspension just smooth out the ride?
Click to expand...
HELL YES!!!


Remeber and this is the most important fact about a tandem , the Stoker can not see ahead. so they don't know what the bike is about to hit. so they can't prepare them selvs for the jolt that is about to approach. when ridning on the road , I haveto warn my stoker about pot holes.
 
PatBranch

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
Here are some crazy ones...ellsworth has one: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mtbtandems.com/images/gal2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mtbtandems.com/gallery.html&h=506&w=1006&sz=60&tbnid=ghkBKi-5CDIJ:&tbnh=74&tbnw=149&hl=en&start=8&prev=/images?q=ventana++tandem+&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&sa=G
This is what I saw at cambria that time:



....the more, the merrier.............looks very flexy (might smooth the trail...........I wonder how long a shift takes
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sandsmachine.com/p_ven_t4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sandsmachine.com/a_ven_t1.htm&h=418&w=1468&sz=60&tbnid=zIJyvMK4_0gJ:&tbnh=42&tbnw=150&hl=en&start=15&prev=/images?q=ventana+tandem&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&sa=G
 
buildyourown

buildyourown

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2004
4,832
0
South Seattle
I've helped design and build a few off road tandems.
Suspension is nice.
Dual crown forks are almost a requirement.
Riding anything other than very smooth fire roads without a devinci drivetrain takes a lot of communication. It can be very frustrating when the captian stops pedaling for a ditch and the stoker keeps going.
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
43,071
15,162
Portland, OR
My lbs has a Raleigh that they rent out. It's rigid with suspension seat posts. I shot it in orange-yellow power and the owner took his wife on a 2 week road trip to break it in. Cost wise, it's a good deal. Not sure I would do more than basic trails, but it would be something I could get my wife to try as well.
 
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patineto

The RM Mad Scientist
Feb 19, 2002
935
0
berkeley, ca
BMXman said:
Now that I have been loking around.... I'm more inclined to get a HT....I would prefer steel as well...still gathering info...D
Click to expand...
well the Mikkelson i found on Craigslist (check link above) is pretty much as good as it gets
 
BMXman

BMXman

I wish I was Canadian
Sep 8, 2001
13,827
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Victoria, BC
robdamanii said:
No offense intended here, but some people need to resize pictures. Breaking the table makes life tough on reading things.
Click to expand...
exactly what I was thinking.... no one posts links anymore... I have dial up and it takes a while to load....D
 
BMXman

BMXman

I wish I was Canadian
Sep 8, 2001
13,827
0
Victoria, BC
does anyone make a Tandem with independent crank rotations? I'm pretty sure I have seen or heard of one but I can't remember...D
 
prophet6

prophet6

Chimp
Mar 25, 2002
96
0
North Easton, MA
There are a couple of tandems that come with independant pedaling systems, but they all suck. A lot. They typically aren't built to handle the power that two riders push out, and they make handling the bike in corners much more difficult, especially for a new team.

If this is going to be offroad, get full suspension: you can't unweight wheels over bumps, so it's all the work of the suspension. I've got a bunch of time in on a Ventana FS, and it was impressive how technical the terrain you could ride was, and that was with a traditional drivetrain. Well, almost traditional. The largest two cogs have to be bolted together with twenty something bolts to keep them from folding over under high torque.

Also, when I did a bunch of research on forks for tandems, I found that by most testing, none of the DH forks out there are rated for tandem use- they all can fail under fairly normal riding conditions. I was invesitgating modifying a motorcycle fork but the weight just wasn't reasonable. I guess you've got to ride with something, but just realize that it might be sketchy.

If this is going to be a road tandem, ride a bunch- new teams usually have better success on aluminum bike because of the considerably improved torsional stiffness. I myself rather like high end steel and Ti bikes, but the handling of aluminum road tandems is very impressive. My personal taste is for Co-Motion. They're a small company and they do excellent work at reasonable prices. Check them out. They also handle much, much better than Santana. Santana's handle like trucks: they market this as a safety feature, but that's a joke.

If you need any advice or have questions, drop me a line. I've been riding tandems and involved in the tandem world for 21 years. I know a couple of things.


p6
 
MikeD

MikeD

Leader and Demogogue of the Ridemonkey Satinists
Oct 26, 2001
11,735
1,819
chez moi
Are you INSANE??

Yeah, she'll totally be into riding more if she's hanging off the back of a tandem, getting totally tossed around by rough stuff that she can't see up ahead (or worse still, up front and scared to death of controlling the unwieldy thing on singletrack), getting smacked in the tailbone by the saddle every other hit and rattling her brain, scared to death because she feels out of control...

Tandems might be a lot of fun for committed riders who are ready for it, but I think you're asking for a whole host of new troubles instead of just dealing with simpler ones. Put some big disc brakes on her Superlight to help her feel in control...upgrade the shock and fork to something modern and plush, and get her out riding. The tandem sounds like a good idea, and she likes it because it means you'll have to be out there together, but it's going to be a hellish shackle for both of you instead of being a uniter. Just my opinion, of course...

I think an offroad tandem isn't a place for a casual rider. Cruising the beach, or maybe the buttery-smoothest of open singletrack (or maybe fireroads if you've got a dually) might be OK...but no Noble for you.

MD
 
BMXman

BMXman

I wish I was Canadian
Sep 8, 2001
13,827
0
Victoria, BC
Mike you and I are too much alike. I suggested that very thing....upgrading her bike with a better, fork, brakes, and wheelset but she's convinced she would like a tandem. I think once I'm all healed we'll rent a couple of times first and see how she likes it...D
 
MikeD

MikeD

Leader and Demogogue of the Ridemonkey Satinists
Oct 26, 2001
11,735
1,819
chez moi
She's convinced she wants to be with you during the time you're out riding, but doesn't really want to ride herself. Tandem won't fix the problem...but renting one and taking her out on the trail might. Good idea!

MD
 
Morryjg

Morryjg

Mr. Ho Jangles
May 9, 2003
905
0
Littleton
prophet6 said:
My personal taste is for Co-Motion. They're a small company and they do excellent work at reasonable prices. Check them out. They also handle much, much better than Santana. Santana's handle like trucks:
Click to expand...
Agreed! We bought a Co-Motion because it handled so well compared to everything else. :love: We have a road tandem though, never tried out a Mt tandem.

 
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