Would be interested in owner’s thoughts on this dilemma – would you opt for a 2nd hand custom built steel frame that fits us over a new cheaper model? Say a £1000 to spend – would you choose a custom built steel framed 10yr old tandem used weekly but well looked after over a new Dawes Discovery? Know this is a very subjective opinion but just interested in the general view and maybe a few tips on what I should be looking for. Decent 2nd hand tandems seems sparse and ebay’s either low budget or soemthing from the 70s that’s been in the shed for 20years. Are parts for tandems significantly dearer i.e. hubs?

Any general opinions on the subject welcome. Just found tandems to be good fun and much more social for the couple rides 😉

Road or offroad? The only steel framed tandem we rode offroad was ridiculously flexy when using granny gear – tyre rub on the chainstay

Tandem wheels do get hammered especially off road. You need good brakes as well. Hope have started doing a tandem specific hub but I don’t know if it is for offroad useage

Does the frame you are looking at have disc mounts? I wouldn’t consider anything without even for road usage.

Can I add to the thread? I saw a tandem at Cyclone last weekend which was suitable for an adult and a child (say, 10- 14yrs. Would this be a bespoke build, or are there a few about?

Child adult tandems are not uncommon. However a full size tandem with a child pedal kit is more flexible
http://www.tandems.co.uk/

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I almost emailed you privately TJ so hello and thanks.

This has disc brakes and a suspension fork, we’ll use it mostly for roads and country lanes but expect we’ll do some gentle offroad stuff.Will obviously test ride it first but wasn’t expecting a hand built steel frame to be too flexy so will look out for that though suspect we’ll find it a difficult comparison without lining up several to test ride at the same time. Maybe we should be doing that before buying but think we’re probably reasonably easy to please in terms of something ‘decent’ will be fine for what we’re going to do.

If its got disc brakes and a sus fork I would think it would be fine – the one we tried was an old cheap one and we hammered it

TJ. Thanks for the link and help.
It turns out JD Tandems are only 1/2 hr ride away. I will go see what they offer.

I’d expect a custom frame modern enough to have disc mounts to be stiff enough – but try it.

Otehrwise check it has what you need – rack mounts etc and fits well.

If so I’d take it over a modern cheaper frame anyday, as long as the price is right. Oh and I’d echo what’s been said about wheels and parts…which are likely to be poorer on the cheaper modern bike.

Thanks. Still my dilemma of new over 2nd hand. It’s almost as bad as buying a car! Think we’ll probably opt 2nd hand and at least that way if we want to upgrade soon we should lose less in depreciation. just hope we don’t struggle getting started when being watched on the test ride 😉

Secondhand is the way to go if it fits and is a decent bike.

Cheers Al. the sepcs all decent stuff at it’s time so should be good for a few thousand more gentle miles yet. Certainly the case with the STX stuff on my old Diamond Back! Smoother 10 years on than some much younger ‘equivalent’ stuff.

Thanks. Will report back next week. Looking forward to it already – know we need to figure out size to bear in mind my partner captaining as she likes to take charge occasionally (and it keeps her quiet lol). Our differing heights aren’t ideal for this but building in plenty of room for adjustment makes it possible and adds to the fun though we probably do look even more ‘unusual’ that way round….

It soon gets addictive and expensive – like any bikes but worse. Both being able to ride both seats is good.

If it’s mainly road with the odd bit of farm track, you’d manage fine on a road bike with rigid forks/vee brakes.

I’d concentrate on getting a good s/h bike rather than zero in on a road/offroad bike especially if your planning mainly road riding. As with singles, more recent kit, good wheels and a frame that fits are more important than diverting the budget into a heavy suspension fork or disks.

I ride mainly road with the odd bit of track on a bespoke 700c wheeled road tandem with 3 vee and 1 drag brake. We’re not underbraked (even fully loaded when touring) and rigid forks are fine for gentler track pootles.

You can get some very nice s/h George Longstaff or similar bespoke machines for around £1000 – £1500. Often very low miles but make sure you get something as recent as possible to avoid buying into obsolete systems.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the disks. They are very nice but a set of Magura HSIIs are still a huge improvement over regular V’s and good enough even for offroad

Try the Tandem Club website for sale and general forums.

I just found this on the Thorn forum.
You’ve got to be keen to go for this level of second hand. 😀

1930s BSA tandem

Just an update. We bought a Locks handmade tandem about 9yrs old. Frame’s right for us and in very good nick, hope DH4 on the front seems to work well and a couple of Vees on the back inlc a drag brake. Halo combat rims, hope front hub, stronglight cranks and and mostly lx deore elsewhere with old but trust stx-rc shifters and a judy fork. Early test spins are promising though the steering wanders a little with no lock out and a few adjustments are needed so I’m currently reading up a little on adjusting the rear mech – easy for you ‘old hands’ but I’m currently finding fettling my own bikes a bit of a pain tbh (especially the M485 discs on my single bike – see other thread!!).

Here’s to not spending too much getting it fit us both front an dback 🙂

Nice one. Pics?

Decent suspension post for the stoker is a good idea.

Enjoy