Original plans were for a convertible 29er/fatbike tandem but gear compromises and expense have knocked that one on the head so now looking for something like a rigid 29er that can be used for both loaded touring and plus sized off road fun. CoMotion Java looks perfect but frameset is £3k, Cannondale 29er is well spec’d but looks a bit limited for touring & BB30 👿 could live with something like the Ridgeback velocity but max tyre size? Landescape 29/27/26 needs investigation – anything else out there I should consider?

Speak to Alex at mtbtandems, his latest incarnation of the Fandango will take 29 and 27.5+ or even a Ventana Grand el Jefe, that’ll take fat,27.5+ and 29+ (if I had the money I’d have one in the garage). Build yourself from frameset and run single sided drive chain as it’ll cut costs and add flexibility to chainsets/bb you can use, we run raceface aeffect cranks with single ring front and double spider rear (cheaper than middelburn alternatives) mated to a Rohloff.

Also Salsa Powderkeg but not sure if still available?

Thanks bpd will look into Fandango – I had considered a Rohloff but didn’t think they would give us the range needed in the chilterns for road and offroad stuff (currently on 19″ to 113″ and could do with wider range!)

Rohloff on the tandem is the nicest thing, stationery shifting is really handy as it reduces the loads on the drivechain. Ours is over ten years old and still going strong so has paid for itself many times over. Alex is a real knowledge base when it comes to mountain bike tandems, if you speak to him mention Scott pointed you in his direction. If you wanted to try a 29er tandem (mines running a 29+ front end) at all your more than welcome to give mine a spin, I over in hampshire.

Thanks bpd will do 8)

Lappiere Tandem

We had an earlier version of this and it was a good bike.