jim_pridx

Not to be hijacking this thread, but I did the Gates belt upgrade last night along with a test ride today, and it's definitely a nice conversion for this bike. It just turns out that my center to center BB dimension was exactly 724mm, so the 69T Gates ring along with some new 5-bolt, 130mm da Vinci spiders made for a perfect fit. The conversion couldn't have been easier! In addition to the overall sync drive being cleaner and a tad lighter, it seems that our pedaling rhythm is a bit smoother as well. Of course, that could be my imagination, but it felt good for both of us. All in all, I'm very pleased with it. Thanks for the encouragement!







Back to the regularly-scheduled program.........

obrentharris 

This was our first tandem, bought many years and many miles ago. It has since gone on to a new owner.




This is our "new" tandem, bought about 8 years ago.




I was so smitten by this one a few years ago that I didn't stop to consider whether it would fit me! It now lives in a museum.





Brent

Paul J

That is a beautiful bike! I've loved the Bob Brown bikes from afar. Love the lugs and know how much effort goes into that. Where are you located in Wisconsin? I use to live in Watertown when I worked for TREK many years ago.

jim_pridx

Thanks for the nice compliment! We really enjoy the Bob Brown bike, and there's no doubt that Bob goes the extra mile when it comes to building with lugs. He's one of the very few that'll even consider building a tandem with lugs these days.

I live in small town just outside of Stevens Point, WI, so I'm about a two-hour drive north of Watertown. I lived in Madison for several years, though, so I'm very familiar with the Watertown area as well as the Trek factory in Waterloo. Nice area!

fitlerbend

Final prep for GAP-C&O Near starting point in Pittsburgh. We fitted 559 x 47s for the C&O. Not only is the C&O rougher, but it rained most of the time we rode.

lichtgrau

Wow, so many nice bikes... would like to test ride one or two of them sometimes... or... better not :-)

Here's our "one for all occasions" working horse. Since we don't have different good- and bad weather-, race- and mountain-, trip- and travel-, Sunday- and everyday- or whatsoever bikes:


This poor thing has to be there for every occasion and that's what it does: It became our trustful friend for more than 7000 km in the last 2,5 years. I assembled it for just some happy tours over the year but now -except in the winter- we ride it every week at least once and we always enjoy the shared experience.

The features I (technically) like most are the Rohloff (with the chance of shifting even while waiting at a traffic lights), the setup with both chains on one side (on one of our favorite trips we have to carry the bike over some bridges and I'm not a big fan of chain tattoos), the double piston Maguras (tremendous breaking power for relatively little money) and -last but not least- the bullet proof 26"-wheels with the Schwalbe Marathons which in reality run way better than we thought.

The Ti-frame was actually our little luxury, but I would still always postpone the buying of a new car for having it :-)

speed king

Matadors

Just about to begin the "real" riding in the Sierra Nevada. Hole in the Ground trail is a KILLER! Haven't ridden it in a while and it would destroy me today. Gotta get on the bike more so these kinds of rides are back within the realm of possibility!!![/QUOTE]


I know that trail! I suspect you had to stop, dismount and lift the rear around the switchbacks on the way up. Did you clear the steps on the way down? Not a simple trail for a tandem. Kudos!

Matadors

Our new Comotion Mocha

LV2TNDM

I know that trail! I suspect you had to stop, dismount and lift the rear around the switchbacks on the way up. Did you clear the steps on the way down? Not a simple trail for a tandem. Kudos![/QUOTE]


Thanks. I love technical riding. We can usually make some of the switchbacks. But it all depends on mood, fitness level, and daring on any given day! This fork is so much better than the old triple crown we had. Sharp turns are more doable than they used to be. I think we've ridden the steps every time on the way down. They have gotten progressively deeper and gnarlier over the years. Today I'm not sure I'd be up for them, but who knows!


Anyway, the thing about the gnarly stuff on a tandem (shhh, it's a secret) is if you keep the front wheel straight, you can get through so much crazy stuff. Sierra granite is surprisingly smooth on a tandem. That plus a 6" travel fork and we're practically unstoppable! Plus, once the front wheel's through the gnarl, who cares about the rear wheel?!! (Oh, my poor stoker!) Caveat: do NOT turn sharply! We were racing way back when on a familiar course. We approached a steep and deep stair-step drop section and I stupidly made a last-minute correction at the worst possible time - right as my wheel landed in a depression. (This front wheel also happened to be a gift from another shop guy and it was a terrible front tandem wheel - narrow rim.) The wheel quickly folded in two. And I KNEW not to do this. But oh well, I DID it! So I'm now running a much more appropriate front whee. But the moral of the story is, keep it straight and you can get through almost anything. So. Much. Fun!


It's past time for another assault on H-i-G trail on the tandem. Not sure when we'll get up to Donner next, but when we do I'll make an effort to bring the Crack-N-Fail for another attempt!


Thanks for letting me share!

drumbent

While I wait to get a decent photo of our new-to-us Yokota Twin Peaks tandem, here's a pic of my friend's very long rig: a Greenspeed recumbent tandem (that can be taken apart and converted to a single), towing a Greenspeed Lamb tag-along, towing a WeeHoo. The family lives car-free and they all ride bikes of various kinds. The tandem features a Rohloff, a Schlumpf Speed Drive, and Hope disc brakes. More at RGB's cycling page

TLubbs

same problem, one less for me

VitSports6

Our first marathon race, I’m a runner, so no real riding gear at this point.

Second marathon race, looking a little more like a team!

The day I bought it, 4 years ago.
We have a 1995 Carbon Art and Science(CA&S) tandem, My daughter who is blind, is my stoker, she loves it! We were hoping to complete our 4th marathon together in April, but the world is upside down at the moment...

L134 

Wow! Carbon is almost always a real turn-off aesthetically for me but THAT is one cool looking bike!

sarahbruce

This bike is absolutely BANANAS! That you and your daughter can ride together is just so heartwarming and awesome!

jim_pridx

That CA&S is indeed a "cool looking bike!" Just out of curiosity, I was reading the earlier CS&S thread that later included this bike, but this is the first I've heard of it. VitSports6, thanks for posting!

Here's the earlier thread for those who may be interested:
https://www.bikeforums.net/tandem-cy...ience-inc.html

VitSports6

Thanks All!

It’s an oddity for sure, when we are riding it, people always ask about it, then I mention it was built in 1995, they are surprised, it is heavy, especially compared to today’s bikes, when I bought it I tried to find a Tandem that wasn’t too expensive or a WalMart special.

Jim_pridx, thank for sharing The link as well!

Freerojo

"Moby Grape" 1996 Cannondale RT2000
This Tandem belonged to a longtime couple who passed and their children offered it up to our bicycle club and my wife and I decided to take a chance for our first tandem. It was kept in pretty good shape but I made several changes which you can read more here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/tandem-cy...-complete.html
I can't believe how sweet the ride is.

torger

I have posted this image before in another thread which was about the gravel wheel build, but I thought I may put it in this thread too. It's a 2019 Cannondale Road Tandem with some new components and 650B gravel wheels.

kayakindude

Enjoying our 1st road tandem. 91 Cannondale with a few added features as we build up the mileage. Having a face cloth clamped to the handlebar with a beach towel clip is a great addition for the humidity.

sarahbruce

Your tandem looks so fast and amazing! However, is there any chance you have a pic with both riders on it? I can't even picture how the stoker is not basically laying their head on the captain's back. I even searched for pics of road tandems with similar setups and they all seem to be more relaxed.

torger

Thanks. We often reconfigure our tandem to ride with friends and family members. Normally it's me in the front and my partner as stoker, but sometimes the other way around, and when I ride with friends I'm usually stoker. In the picture it's unfortunately not a real fit, before the photo it was fitted for a tall pilot and myself in the back, but to not look too strange in the photo I swapped out the massive 14 cm stem to the 12 cm I use myself, but the saddle height is higher than I have it. The short stoker stem in the back is for when I am stoker, not sure if the saddle height is correct or not, maybe it is a little bit lower.

It's the shortest stoker stem possible, any shorter than that the backside of the thighs of the pilot touches the stoker handlebar. Indeed when I ride with a tall pilot l as a stoker come close to the pilot's back. Good for aerodynamics and riding fast, not so good for having a nice view. The frame is a M in front and S in back. It's long for being a small though so I that is usually in between M and L sizes (54 - 56 cm frame size) can still ride in the back but then it becomes a quite tight space, more of a racing configuration rather than pleasant touring. With a shorter stoker that actually use S frame sizes normally the view in the back is great though thanks to the length, and then we also fit a much longer stoker stem.

Recently I've changed my stoker fit to have a bit longer stem (about 2 cm longer than pictured), and instead have a large drop, 12 cm (almost 5 inches) from saddle top to handlebar. That way there's no risk the pilot's thighs touches the handlebar. When I ride a single bike I prefer to have quite little drop and instead have a longer reach, but realized when I ride as stoker and is not actually steering and have a wider handlebar (the drop bar in the rear is 46 cm wide so the pilot can fit between the bar hooks) I can be just as comfortable with a short reach and large drop.

Unfortunately I have no photos of us riding yet, I'm usually the one taking photos while riding, but then I'm on the bike...

Below is the bike pictured with a real fit though (and the 700c wheelset), there I am in the front and my partner is in the back. I like a bit more "racy fit" and she prefers a bit more relaxed fit -- perfect for touring as I'm low in the front and she sits a bit more upright she gets a nice view. Note the longer stoker stem and that the stoker handlebar is about the same height as the saddle (the saddle is a split nose ISM saddle which is the only ones she has found work with her anatomy). The frame is unusually low so quite a lot of seatpost is exposed. Despite being so low we find it to be stiff enough thanks to the massive tubing. The only part I'd like to be a bit stiffer is the fork -- some disc rub due to flex in the fork can happen from time to time.


Real fit, aero wheels

sarahbruce

That pic looks much more reasonable Thanks for all the info! Not that is really matters, but what's the weight of your setup? I have no idea even what range these types of tandems weigh are in, but they look lightweight!

merlinextraligh

Our Calfee is 24 pounds. With a few tweaks, I could get it to 23.

Markeologist

Can you tell me about your early Ritchey, size, what components, how do you know it was the first (not a challenge, just looking for data)??? It reads like you still own it, I hope so. I have a sister to yours that I recently purchased. My wife and I have been riding tandem for over 30 years and always wanted one of Ritchey's early ones after seeing the Anchor Steamer...I could have purchased it but it was way too big for me (it was built for Otis to captain and he is way taller then me). His early tandems are incredibly lovely bicycles and I figured I would never own one as there can't be many (anybody know how many??). Unexpectedly my Ritchey showed up on CL. As soon as I get enough posts (I'm a BF newbie) I'll post. Could you post some more pix of this bike or direct me to others photos of it already on BF? Thanks.