user2

The spouse and I are going to look at a 2004 Burley Samba tomorrow. Appears in good condition from the photos. The seller is asking for $600 CAD ($450 USD).

Are these things still easily serviceable? From what I could find, the bottom bracket is a cartridge style, and not proprietary as the ones in earlier years were. I would hate for the bike to become scrap metal because some worn out proprietary component costs more to replace than the value of the bike.

I found this circa 2004 spec sheet online for the Samba: https://www.precisiontandems.com/cat_files/samba.pdf

Our intent is to try tandeming to entertain ourselves and see if we like it, and use this bike on our normal routes as a “do everything” bike, the same as we use our Kona Sutras. This comprises of mixed routes with a roughly equal mix of pavement, smooth gravel, rough 4x4/atv gravel and moderate singletrack. If we enjoy tandeming, we’ll also try (lightly) loading the bike up for some multi-day bikepacking trips.

The biggest downside I see with this bike is the lack of optional rear drum brake. Most hills around here are relatively short, but can be very steep, and we’ll be a 360 lb team.

Paul J

Being 9 speed should be fairly easy to still support. It it is in good repair not a bad price but on the high side. It should do pretty much everything you are thinking of doing though if it doesn't have a suspension seat post your sticker will thank you if you get one before heading off-road.

TobyGadd

Looks like a solid bike. If it's in good shape, it'll do everything that you outlined. I don't see any parts that look like they are heading for terminal obsolescence.

Rim brakes are fine for most descents. Maybe buy some new pads if the rubber is old or dry. You only really need discs or a drum if you are descending long & steep hills at slower speeds. Learn how to manage your energy and heat, and you should be fine. For example. it's frequently better, at least when safe to do so, to descend quickly so that you can blow off some energy with wind resistance. Both of you should sit up nice and high, stick your elbows out, and use your body to create extra drag. When first learning to descend, check your rim temps frequently until you get a good idea of how quickly they heat up on different types of descents and at different speeds. The biggest danger is heating up the rims too much--which can result in blowing the tires off the rims due to the additional heat-generated tire pressure. It can help to let out some air before really long descents. If in doubt, stop and let your wheels cool down--which doesn't usually even take very long. Managing heat on steep dirt roads is the biggest challenge since you can't usually go fast enough to use "air braking," so you often end up dragging your brakes more--which generates a LOT of heat. When possible, pulsing and/or alternating your front and rear brakes is always a good idea. Just remember to stop and check your rims frequently. If you're even a little bit careful, you should never have an issue.

Like Paul J says, get a Thudbuster for your stoker. Tandem geometry has a way of directing every bump and vibration up the stoker's seatpost!

Darth Lefty 

I have one much like that. Mine is 24 speed Shimano with V brakes. It's a good quality bike, nothing on it is questionable as to function. But none of it is light either! Like a touring bike. All the braze ons you could want.

The fit is very much like an old MTB.

It was possible to get suspension forks into them but not common.

Arai drag brake was standard on the next level bike, but the braze-on is present if you want to install one. The BB's are special, sorry... per a recent thread here, Tandems East might have one. All the brakes and transmission are fairly good to go. One exception, a flat bar version needs to use a SRAM grip shift for the road sized FD. (There are only two road FD's that will work with a Shimano triple MTB shifter but they are long out of production, first generation Tiagra and contemporary DA). A drop bar conversion, a factory option, used indexed right and friction left barcons and special long pull brake levers to go with the V brakes. I gave mine a conversion to 11 speed SLX. The hub is HG.

Being steel it's a bit of a noodle for a heavy team (we were >400lb at the time) compared to a Cannondale or Fandango.

We do have a suspension seat post but it's only a telescoping spring, nothing fancy. Wifey also put a springer saddle on top of it. We used it on road with Schwalbe Kojaks

TobyGadd

I haven't seen the bottom brackets on this bike. but I wonder if it's possible to extract the old bearings and press-fit new ones into the old BB cups? I've done this with a couple of other brands over the years. Bearings are rarely unique, although the cups usually are.

user2

Good to know, I might consider upgrading the drivetrain to get lower gearing at some point, assuming we enjoy riding tandem and decide the bike is worth upgrading. The stock Samba gearing has a low of 25 gear-inches, and at least on my single bike I really enjoy having a 20 inch climbing gear for steep dirt and gravel.

Darn, that's a little disappointing!

I see Tandems East has the front eccentric Burley BB listed for $160 USD and the rear BB for $90 USD. Which isn't too terrible, assuming they still have it in stock if and when I need it.

I was wondering about this as well. My experience with cartridge bottom bracket bearings is they need to be replaced almost as often as brake pads... my Kona Sutra bottom bracket started creaking after about 4000 miles, and with my winter commuter I'm lucky to get 500 miles due to the salt exposure.

Darth Lefty 

If you actually use your tandem to the extent you imagine you will, the bb's might be a problem someday. But my impression is that most don't. Refreshing them, if you want to try, is going to cost you half what you paid for the bike once you get the tools. If you're that into it you are going to go shopping for something up to date.

They are both a big cartridge. The front one is clamped by the eccentric and the rear one seems like it's just jammed into the frame. The rear one is bigger - probably to make a bigger chain line to go with the big rear hub, though I've never measured it out. The stoker cartridge sticks out of the shell on mine and I have to wonder if you got it out of there could you thread it and put on a 73/68 BB and whatever crankset you wanted.

Here's the thread. My frame is a newer one that does not have the bent-around seat and chain stays.
https://www.bikeforums.net/framebuil...andem-bbs.html

user2

I think you're right, it most likely shouldn't be a problem. Hypothetically, if we test ride the bike tonight and find that either of the BBs are creaky or running rough, I'll peg the value at $250 USD ($350 CAD) max given the potential headache involved in fixing it.

TobyGadd

Wow, that's like deciding to re-wire your house because a lightbulb died!

I suspect that there are easier ways to deal with bottom brackets on that bike. Hell, he even acknowledged failing to notice things like circlips until he'd already cut the frame! But he also wrote that he wasn't trying to find the easy answer, since he's a frame builder. Seems to me that getting a BB from Tandems East, or fresh bearings, would be likely to work.

Darth Lefty 

These have been out of production for like fifteen years and the Burley that exists now has only a tenuous connection to the co-op. But, Burley the co-op was a US company that was still going in this century, and a lot of still-working frame builders worked there. Some of them still do at Bike Friday and Co-Motion and other shops in the Eugene or Portland area. So you can see why US frame builders would see them as worthy of working on. Tandems East have a listing for the BB but they ask you to call. They are probably snapping up NOS from wherever they can find it.

user2

Update: We bought the bike. It was in excellent condition, practically rust-free. Looks like it doesn't have too many miles on it.

The owner had made two very useful upgrades that I didn't expect: A lower geared 44-34-24 tooth crankset (vs stock 52-42-30) and a suspension post in the rear. The stoker handlebars were also replaced with a high-rise bar.

The frame size is almost too big for me at the front. I have plenty of standover clearance, but when looking at the geometry specs, I didn't account for how the stoker stem takes away about 3" of the front seatpost. In my normal postion, I only have about a 1/2" of seatpost to spare before bottoming it out.




The only concern I have is some of the eyelets on the rear rim look like they're pulling out. However, they're still holding tension and the wheel runs true. These are Sunringle Rhynolite 40H rims.



I was actually a little surprised how light the bike feels to pick up. It's definitely heavy, but I was expecting it to be heavier. I guess I'm just used to handling our Kona Sutras that weigh about 35lbs.

reburns

Regarding the captain’s seatpost adjustment, you can maybe give yourself a little more room by adjusting the eccentric at the top of the bb opening rather than where it is near the bottom. That will bring the pedals a bit closer to the saddle. Beyond that, a different seatpost may help also.

Darth Lefty 

That one is a ringer for mine. I think yours is redder and mine is maroon but it might be the lighting.

It does fit big. If you look at that spec sheet you posted you will see there's not a big difference between sizes except the seat tube length. Compact frames came later to tandems, so the standover is pretty high as well, which makes boarding fun. Chorus line kick! I put riser bars and a pretty short stem on mine.

TobyGadd

Congrats on the bike!

I don't see any cracks, which is one of the first things that worry me with old rims. But you might want to pop off the tube & tire to see what's up with the eyelets.