In answer to Fir, there are several options for kid packs on tandems. Burley, and Santana are a couple that come to mind and Precision makes a stoker kit just for allowing kids to ride on a tandem.

Aaron :)
http://www.precisiontandems.com/phot...marknj2-th.jpg

Aaron... that is the coolest picture.

Yours ?

Thanks for the photo wahoonchttp://www.bikeforums.net/../star.gif. That is a very kewl setup. I think kids much prefer to be in/on the same vehicle with mumma or papa than sealed off in a separate waggon. Thanks for the springer link 65er :-) http://www.springersmusic.co.uk/Tandem.htm Fastest vehicle on Earth! I liike it :-) I will certainly keep an eye out for one like that...

I would certainly pay £39 for a number 9 path racer in a heartbeat - only 40 lbs? amazing, My Twenty is almost that much.

Hmm, I recently saw a picture of a Phillips tandem that looked similiar to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Or...,_MA,_1899.JPG That was a SA 3 speed Tim

Nope...when mine were that small I couldn't afford a tandem, poor deprived children had to ride in a 15 year Bugger behind dad's 25 year old Motobecane.:p

We do have a tandem at the moment, IIRC it is a 2005? Raleigh Companion. It doesn't see much use because I am seldom home.:(

Aaron:)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Or...,_MA,_1899.JPG

That is a beaut! A loop-frame tandem, who knew? Great view for the "stoker" :-) Room for skirt and bustle. Front brake might have been a useful option. Grips can't be original? Can't figure out the bracket thing near the bottom of the steering tube.

I think the "bracket" is so both the riders could steer! So the front rider could ride hands free OR the stoker could share control of the bike.... puts a whole new spin on "back seat driving"

Yep... a good number of vintage tandems offered rear steering and with the loop frame the lady say up front.

Pretty geometry.
 

Didn't dawn on me at first that the front bars control the steering too. That might be confusing :fight:

I guess to put a little one on there, you could mount a seat someplace partway down the front seattube and little handlebars affixed to the loopy downtube. With such a view they would not require a DVD player. And their C of G would be low for nice stability when you are jumping on and off etc. The front seat tube wouldn't bend with that extra brace there. Wonder what the whole thing weighs. Pretty geometry. Eye catching.

I just recieved a CCM Galaxy with arched seatstays and loop frame - must be mid sixties. They had their own way of putting things together hey? Rear tire says 28 x 1&5/8 x 1&3/8. I think it might make a nice steed for Mrs Fir if it was altered to a 3 spd AW hub and given something in the way of brakes somehow. This might invoke my first lacing project... Hope it doesn't go like my first truing project...

Sideways on a German 3 spd
 

I did find a Tandem :-) Technically I guess it's a German and Canuck 3 spd because the hub is a Sachs. Tips the scales at 25kg [55lbs]. EEk, was hoping for less... I guess it won't be too barbaric to shorten the rear ST as the frame has been butchered already. Sure funny to steer and your whole cockpit moves sideways.

[whoops, scratch "Tandem" it's a BB42:

"Many tandems are really bicycles built for two (there is a difference) and are not designed for serious competitive or touring use... CCM made tandems that were just this in that the seating was very upright and many were fitted out as as coaster bikes or three speeds." - posted 05-29-10 08:28 PM

Be interesting to compare to a proper tandem one day.]

http://saskatoontrail.org/linkableim...4um-0001_1.JPG

Hey, you almost described my Counterpoint Opus II!http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3003/...f9f83c8b_b.jpg

But hold on, weren't we talking about English three speeds?

Nice old find... and it is a three speed.

Those CCM wheels are a Canadian 28 which is a 622 / 700c so you can run better wheels and tyres and can even use modern 700c tyres as long as you don't inflate them past 70 psi as the rims are not designed for high pressure.

That BBF2 looks like it will be a lot of fun.

rhm - That is a very cool design... some friends have one of these and ride it all summer long.

Alas, the tyres claim to be 26x1.75; hopefully Mtn bike tyres will fit. I guess it's a bit too young a vintage for the classic 28". MIG welded frame and not as prettily as one might hope. But at least I have a tandem now.

Mind is racing with thoughts of how to use all that length. Potentially could haul more than an Xtracycle :-) It could take huge pannier baskets, or rows of them, if the rear cranks were easy to swap off and on. Alas they are one-piece [there must be a cure for that]. Will keep an eye for more vintage tandems for sure.

Fir - Do the tyres say 1.75 or 1 3/8... odd for a CCM of this age to have modern 26 inch tyres fitted.

I just picked up a similar tandem and the tires are marked 26x1.75 as well. I haven't checked Sheldon yet, but I've never seen this size except on mountain bikes. Who knows, maybe it's actually MTB 26"! I'd be suprised though, this seems like just the right kind of bike to have weird sizes everywhere.

My gigantor purple CCM:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/...9a01d442_b.jpg

It wasn't unheard of for tire makers to mis-mark their tires especially up here. Canadian tire markings were quirky. I suspect they are the 571 mm bead 26 x 1 1/2" size...http://www.sheldonbrown.com/26/index.html

The Canadian 26 x 1 3/4 is the same bead 571 diameter, just wider. That's likely where this decimal marking came from.

They also made a 26 x 2" wheel for ballooners ...same 571 mm.

Yes "Riken ... 26 x 1.75" just like that. Can't see anything on the rims. What vintage you figger, late 70's? Don't know when they started using wire-feed welders. But there's also signs of brazing. Looks like the Headtube and forks have been replaced [same era CCM forks different paint] but both mudguards look original. Must have head-on-ed something or something. It would be easy to ram a curb or such when turning if you're used to handling a shorter bike I guess.

Just found a Raleigh Grand Prix 10 spd with leather saddle, Weinmann brakes, Stronglight cottered cranks, brass headbadge, French wheels, Shimano shifters, and nice lugwork, out back of a bike shop. They said "take it it's yours." Needs a paint job. OK... I was in a hurry, but couldn't just leave it there...

Wow, Tashi, the same "BBF2." Nice score, it looks in great shape. Your forks look different; slim like a roadbike. Mine have that old CCM kind of 'double butterfly' structure. Is it the Sachs Torpedo 3 spd?

I will try mtn bike tyres and see...

Got up inordinately early this morning and decided what my soul needed was a little espresso and a peaceful place to enjoy it... could not leave before I gave the girl a little sip of oil as she was ticking a little loudly last night which is her way of saying "feed me".

And even though it was not raining the old girl is drawn to water like I am to the sun so we compromised a little... and she was purring like a kitten.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...leigh2010c.JPG

Sweet. Nice leather and fabric stuff. Which model is that?

Our BBF2 turns more heads than any vehicle I've ever owned. Or driven as I can recall. People stare, kids point and yell "Look, a DOUBLE bike!"

Fir - It's a 1954 Raleigh Sports Club Conversion.

Wish my sports had the proper heron chainring, and dimpled fork :-] - yours had the northroad bars to start?

Now there's a bike you'd be reluctant to leave in a rack outside the theatre or opera.. which is a shame because who wants to drive their beater to the theatre? Need more valet parking for bikes I say. Or bike racks inside the theatre, just beside the orchestra pit. That would work.

This is my beater / rain bike.

:)

Figure that the local thieves would not give this bike a second glance and I do make sure to lock her up well if I take her shopping but she isn't a garage queen.

Fir - Will keep an eye out for a heron chain wheel for you... am sure we have a couple down at the bike co-op.

Ahh, now I see the connection "the old girl is drawn to water"... "This is my beater / rain bike."

Did you hear the old soviet joke about the giraffe? All the animals shared a joke and had a good laugh. 3 days later giraffe laughed. "I get it now," he said.

How does the ol' gal like the hard water? D'you go studded in winter? My [wife's] Twenty was very happy in the flakes, but I haven't tried the Sports's 26x1&3/8 in the white stuff. Once we get past the ugly stage [between plus 5 and minus 10 - give or take according to solar incidence] and into deep winter, the old gals should be quite happy so long as the tyres are broad enough to be stable and not chase ruts. Motorists appear to experience a paradigm shift when suddenly encountering me on my studded mtn bike at a 4-way intersection. That would be amplified some if I could find 26x1&3/8 carbide studs for my Sports :-)

Nokian claims to make a "Studded Trekking tyre. 100 Steel studs with durable Carbide pin and durable Gumwall casing. 26x1 1/2 40-584 38/38" and a "Studded Balloon tyre. 62 Steel studs with durable Carbide pin and durable Gumwall casing. 26x1 1/2x2 54-584 50/50" hmm...

As for thieves, there is a bit of a mania here for the vintage stuff - but p'raps people'd be thrown off by the drop bars.

Wish I 'ad some bits here you needed.

Fir - I have winter bikes... I won't subject the old girl to that although our first test ride saw some decent snow and she handled that fine.

I'm thinking as long as everything is nice and dry and there's no salt, it should be nicer than rain on the equipment, no? They say vintage aeroplanes do well in the high arctic. Maybe under 18c is a better rule-of-thumb because it can start dripping here at 14 or 15c, depending upon Mr Yellowball up there. Round here there's quite a bit of reliable non-liquid, unsaltable weather between November and March.

The old lady has had her frame sealed to preserve her patina and decals which should also serve to protect her from a little or a lot of rain... a wipe down with a little light oil serves to do the same thing on steel frames.

Fir, do you have an interesting accent to accompany your unusual and interesting writing style?