Originally Posted by
scycheng
I've seen rental beach boardwalk tandems in Shenzhen with double side driven rear wheel. 48H wheels probably don't have enough volume for parts to be easily available inside China. 36H wheel with deep(er) dish rims you might be able to source in China if you can find a good bike shop. I still haven't found a good shop in Shenzhen. You may have to stockpile tandem-specific spare parts and ask a friend to mail them to you if you need anything on tour.
As for one set of couplers, Chinese airlines (so far) seems to tolerate some pretty big luggage even in domestic flights for free. I've seen some pretty oversized parcels show up on the baggage carousels. The problem with only one set of couplers is mainly that of land transportation. Chinese taxis usually aren't that big. Other than Shenzhen, where there are lots of BYD hatchback EV taxis, most cities use sedans as taxis. Not sure even 1/2 of a tandem will fit into one of those.
When we use to fly our tandem oversea for touring pre-COVID, we always end up with 4 pieces of check-in luggage. 2 S&S hard case for the bike and 2 soft bags for clothes and stuff. 2 half of a tandem will not reduce the number of pieces you need to fly with.
Cheers for the detailed reply mate. I saw your PM come up but can't read it until I reach 10 posts... such is the rules. We ship our bikes in advance and pick them up at our destination, easier than trying to fly with them. Once we get our bikes we just ride out of the city, though we can order a van through huolala if need be.