Hi All,

The wife & I are thinking of getting a secondhand tandem. There seems to be plenty of choice on Ebay but we don’t have a very large budget and were therefore wondering whether the likes of Ammaco and Viking are worth a punt or just nasty trash?

We intend to use it for weekend rides and hopefully some touring.

Any advice greatfully received…

Hire / borrow one first to see if you like it and then spend a decent amount on a decent one. Dawes double edge is a good first tandem. Mind you I have never seen any of the cheapo ones

I would want disc or the ability to upgrade to discs easily and a decent EBB

Anywhere near Edinburgh you can have a go on ours.

old thread, but relevant information

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cheap-tandems

And this is worth a read too
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/tandemtastic

Thanks for the replies, all.

Tandemjeremy, thank you for the offer but we have already hired a tandem for a blast (a Dawes ‘Duo’) and really enjoyed it. Framewise, is steel or alu better at the cheaper end of the market?

And yes, I agree about discs as stopping was ‘interesting’ on the rim-braked hire tandem…

I don’t think it really matters steelfreak / I don’t know enough. I have ridden a steel dawes and we could flex the frame enough to make the rear tyre hit the frame – however easier to repair.

Gert a dawes double edge if you can – you might be able to get one secondhand – try the tandemclub forum

I’ll have a look on the TC forum – Ebay is giving me a headache!

don’t fret too much about the disks either. You can replace standard V brakes with Magura hydraulics and they work just fine

what about a thorn?more trekking/green lane than mtb though.

if you want cheap,look no further than stw’s tandem of doom.