What makes a tandem fork?
05-16-23, 04:20 PM
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What makes a tandem fork?
I have the opportunity to buy. A custom made tandem from a well-known Framebuilder, and I noticed it had a different brand fork. He told me it was necessary because you have to use a tandem fork with a tandem. Is this true? And if so, what makes a tandem fork so special?
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05-17-23, 04:51 AM
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I have the opportunity to buy. A custom made tandem from a well-known Framebuilder, and I noticed it had a different brand fork. He told me it was necessary because you have to use a tandem fork with a tandem. Is this true? And if so, what makes a tandem fork so special?
You need a fork that can take about 4X of the amount of force and abuse that a single bike fork for safety. You have 2 people on board applying twice as much pedaling force and, under hard braking, exerting a lot more stress on the fork. In addition, it's very hard for the stoker to unload their weight when there is an obstacle ahead they can't see such as potholes, curbs and so forth.
For these reasons, I would only use a tandem rated fork on a tandem. You maybe able to get away with a stout single bike fork (for a while) but remember if your fork fails, that's an guarantee you are going to crash immediately.
05-19-23, 08:50 PM
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Strength. Here is some beautiful custom work by Roulez Cycle who built frame and fork on our steel handicapped adaptive tandem.
Fabrication pics prior to finish and paint.
Fabrication pics prior to finish and paint.
Last edited by RoulezTandem; 05-19-23 at 08:54 PM.
