Originally Posted by
sapporoguy
I'm interested in hearing from anyone who's done fully loaded tandem touring: What frame have you ridden that's worked out best?
Our touring has been on the Speedster, which has worked out well, although we have nothing to compare it with. I've fairly heavily customized it to suit our needs and can keep doing that--to an extent.
We are beginning to think of what's next. One option we're eyeing is the Co-Mo Java, which would allow fatter tires (45mm vs the 35's we have on the Speedster), appears to be beefier than the Speedster and seems like it would be better for a combination of pavement and gravel.
Again, interested in hearing about your actual experiences.
Others have given you great information. The one thing I wanted to add is you Speedster is a great touring bike and one that can be used and used. We have one with the diagonal tube and find it to be a great bike for us and we are a heavy team. You did raise the question on tire size and the Speedster is limited there with probably a 35 being the largest and maybe a 32 with fenders. The Java looks to be a good bike and it would give you nice tire options and if you wanted you could purchase a second set of go faster wheels when at home. I've seen many using the open frame design with over-sized tubing but I have no experience with those. We enjoy our diagonal with the added benefit of water bottle placement.