Tandems. Show & Tell

Where’s TandemJeremy when you need him?

Since giving up ALL forms of racing, I’ve become very chilled to the point I’ve actually been on a tandem twice with the lady friend. It’s a biffa (the tandem that is) 26″ wheels MTB/hybrid style mechanical discs. And it’s there for us to use. But what’s life like on one, we’ve only done easy jaunts around Brighton seafront.

Magical. Much better than two separate riders of disparate fitness. Ridden thousands of miles with Mrs TiRed and then small children on the back of our two.

Hills are always hard, that’s where you’ll keep your race fitness. When it was really tough, I used to ask the pre-Teen to get off and walk as it was easier. I also referred to them as The Luggage 🙂

Love ours; use it frequently, mainly touring and winter commuting. It’s much more stable for us than the Mrs is when on her own on a road bike. As she’s light, she gets blown about too easily but with both of us, the tandem holds its line well, even in vile weather. In traffic, cars tend to give you more space, as you look ‘different’. Even Audis, sometimes…
We’ve ridden it on tours of the Western Isles, long cross country rides in Scotland -rode from Angus to Ayrshire for a party recently, then back the next day, 250 miles over two days while towing a trailer.
Toured right around Ireland on it two years back, coinciding with the Giro visit that May. Had an absolute hoot and loads of positive encounters along the way.
As Ti says, it keeps the pilot strong and it also allows the stoker to see more of the landscape you’re passing through.
It’s surprising how fast you can cover the ground most days but steep hills remain a trachle. On a good day, you can even drop roadies who are drafting you; the moment they lapse concentration, they’re out the back door. That’s quite fun.
Ours isn’t posh. It’s a Dawes 26″ Double Edge, now running 3×10 and with the brakes upped to BB7, better front bars and an essential Thudbuster short travel seatpost for the stoker. (it’s a very strong, stiff frame)
Biggest change has been the wheels; in winter we run the stock 26″, 48 spoke wheels with low profile knobblies (old) which is fine for mucky roads on dark nights. In summer I swap to a pair of 650B hoops with better hubs and 36 spokes. Summer tyres are road focussed Grand Bois Liere, about 37mm wide and noticeably quicker..
Hope you’re enjoying.

I’ve been on the back of Jeremy’s and used a Dawes mtn/hybrid one. It was loads and loads of fun. They can handle surprisingly severe trails, although the stakes are higher when you fall (I may have accidentally punched a stoker in the face whilst falling off the boardwalk at Laggan…).

We now own a road/touring tandem from the 60’s that we restored and it’s loads of fun.

Orbit Andromeda full suspension tandem.

Used to take it on holiday to the Ardeche with my girlfriend where it would ride through rock gardens like no single ever could. Unfortunately it was stolen when our daughter was a year old and the insurance payout was only enough to replace it with a rigid reflex timberline.

Upgraded with new wheels (Hope hubs Mavic D521 rims), tyres 2.5″ UST Minoin DHF on the front and a 2.2″ Kenda Nevegal at the back is as big as will fit in the frame.

It’s just had 152mm cranks fitted so my 8 or 10 year old can ride with me as well as my wife. The youngest screams with delight when we crash over rocks on downhills, eldest loves getting splashed when we go through puddles and the boss likes a gentle pootle looking at the scenery.

I’ve been thinking about getting a tandem recently. The next door neighbours have just set off on a tour over the Alps from Vienna to Venice in a Bob Jackson tandem, very jealous!! Saw a really good looking Thorn go for £410 on ebay last week…

Her dads is I think a Raleigh Adventurer as he said he paid about £600 for it. It was fine for what we did, but I’d like road tyres for the road! and bar ends. Like you say when under way it flys?

We got caught up in the Ace café Brighton Burn Up on it the other week, even they liked it.

Where’s TandemJeremy when you need him

Arguing with himself, no doubt.. 😉

We’ve got a dawes the edge rigid with cantis both ends and a rear drum. Great fun for me and the missus. We’ve got a set of 2″ slicks on it now as that’s what we mostly do but it has done some trail riding in the past. It’s also done duties in the past as a London tour guide back in my days of living in the big smoke people generally don’t know what to make of 4 or 5 tandems riding together through town.
Next project is to do a few days riding and camping on Harris/Lewis and Skye. As mentioned above it’s fantastic for couples of disperate fitness and what got my other half into cycling – now rides her bike to work every day. Biggest difficulty for us is storage

Our’s is a Raleigh Adventurer as well I think. Cost us around £600, ten years or so ago.

I upgraded her (she’s called Enid because of all the spiffing adventures we’ve had), with hydraulic brakes, a Revelation fork, Dennis the Menace Spokey Dokey’s, front handlebar mounted windmill and Thunderbird II squeaky hooter, rear handlebar mounted mohican punk rocker bell and bar end streamers.

Absolutely brilliant for skooting along towpaths etc. as Mrs Beagleboy can look at the scenery and hold a conversation without us having to constantly weave around folk.

Don’t own a tandem, but i did get a loan of one from trek uk back in the 90s, i loved it, so did all the (many) young ladies who had a go on the back.
I should explain that i worked in a bike shop at the time, its not like I randomly picked strangers up off the street or anything.

I also referred to them as The Luggage

I shall remember this for when I finally get a tandem.

Ace fun. Don’t have one but always on the look out.

The Mrs & I rode land end to john o’groats on one a few years ago, awesome to the power of max.

Borrowed one for a couple of weeks with a mate when I was a teenager. We toured round France on it. But being competitive and immature teenagers, all we were concerned about was speed and distance. The joys of being in France were largely put to one side.

But it was very quick. The downside was it would snap spokes under hard braking with annoying regularity.

20 plus mtb tandem years now for me and mrs bpd, 2 cannondales and a first generation 26″ mtb tandems fandango with a rohloff we’ve had for the last 12 or so years, ridden loads of good stuff on mine locally, trail centres, alps and on a 29er rental at Phils trails in Bend and at Tahoe too for our 20th anniversary. Still love it, always challenges me every ride as I have to switch off the solo lines and think long. Bought a double galaxy a couple of years back too, took me more time to enjoy as its way more relaxed than my road bike but its easier if the weathers grim or we just fancy a relaxed cafe ride on a sunday.

Currently spec’ing our new mtb one (well frame is new to us), 29er this time with only our rohloff that will be transferring onto the new one. So if anyone is in the market for a 17/15 frame, fork, front wheel, chainset package mine will be up for sale soon.

Just been looking at tandems again tonight, I want one for my 5 year old to go out with me. The trail abike is a bit lairy these days.

Got to work out how to get it on a plane though.

We’ve just come back from a weeks holiday with 2 other tandeming couples.
Based in Llandovery, we rode around the Brecon Beacons, taking in the glorious scenery and enjoying just being out and about in the lovely quiet country lanes.
Ours was first used for mtbing. Then turned into a road bike. We’ve been touring on it several times.
Its great for nipping to the pub or massive all day rides,munching up the miles.

Rutland have some ex demo ones, no idea if £999 is a good price mind 🙂

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/326684/products/ex-hire-orbit-tandem-bike.aspx

Picked up an upgraded dawes double twin off ebay 18 months ago and upgraded it some more & we love it. Only used it on road & a few gravel paths so far but Mrs dickyboy is adamant that we should do charlie’s 50/50 gravel dash on it next year and lejog in 2018 🙂 but will need to sort out better carrying capacity than just rear panniers before then.

I nearly bought a Ritchey tandem from Steve Worland a few years back, which I greatly regret not doing on many levels. Was unemployed and living with my parents at the time so decided it wasn’t a good idea.

Now I’m planning a RTW with my wife for next year, so keeping an eye out again. Those cannondale look decent.

Just had ours out today to finish some repairs. Fitted the rebuilt rear caliper to the disc mount we’ve just had welded on to replace the old clamp on mount. Dawes Double Edge in steel.

https://scontent-mxp1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/1904174_10152197890246215_471061767_n.jpg?oh=a0862c03e4f94e0b558fb5a98571d902&oe=583F7A3D

Picture is from a while back, but not a lot has changed. As mentioned already, great for mixed abilities to ride together, it’s allowing us to explore more pubs, further from home.
Will probably also see an outing with local club to see what we can do with it.

Bunnyhop – Were you on the canal near Brecon last week? Saw a couple on a tandem by the lock. My OH won’t go near the canal on a bike.

Had them for 20yrs now. Did a Polaris or two on it with someone at ST Towers way back when…lugging a BOB box behind it and brewing up some fresh coffee on the overnight camp 😆

This is ours.
http://ventanausa.com/gallery/3david_elconq.jpg

Not us, I don’t recall going near the canal. We did day rides to Llandeusant, the gold mines (at Dolcauthi?) Carreg Cennen and Llyn Briane and the Devil’s Staircase.

Ours! is in Brighton, we’re Leighton Buzzard way. Looked around on the way down there the last two weeks……looks hilly

Regular tandemer for over 20y now, on and off road, own 3 of them now – road tourer, FS mtb and S&S hard tail. Haven’t ridden my single in 3 years 🙂 it’s all been said above though I have heard of one or two other couples who didn’t really get on with it.

Borrowed Dawes Galaxy from the Stoker’s Dad, initally just for Ride London

Subsequently used for a weekend mini-tour to the Isle of Wight:

Now planning a week long tour around Northern France next year.

What’s the saying? Wherever your relationship is heading, you’ll get there faster on a tandem…

Where’s TandemJeremy when you need him?

I’m in deep cover – shhhhhhhhhhh

IMG_2657cropped by TandemJeremy[/url], on Flickr

lammermuirs selfie by TandemJeremy[/url], on Flickr

Ours is a cannondale mt800 with loads of upgrades. As others have said – great fun. We use it for everything from Glentress red to long tours. I haqven’t really got a lot to add to what the others have said. We find singletrack fine (without luggage) until you hit the point at which on an ordinary bike you would be taking dabs – then its a pain ‘cos everytime you stop and start it takes a while so you end up quicker just walking it. Our main use tho is either day rides from home or offroad touring on the estate roads of scotland. Done some scottish classics like Beinn a Ghlo circuit and Glen Kinglass. Very fast downhill but slow uphill for reasons I just can’t grasp. “raced” it a couple of times – we were crap but it was fun.

Tandems can fly!

I’ve posted this before but…

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/two-by-craigieburn-new-zealand-tandem-video-2014.html

(you can see me in the background for a few bits

and a newer one

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/436445/

Where I grew up there was a guy who used to tt on one with his daughter back in the 90s.

They were blindingly quick.

We used to tour on them when I was a nipper. None of your fancy disk brakes back then. If you had a coaster brake you were lucky. Yes they are chuffing quick downhill especially when well loaded.

Don’t let anyone who suffers from cold hands ride as stoker.

Don’t let anyone who suffers from cold hands ride as stoker

She tends to keep her hands up my shirt, I think there might be an ulterior motive to her getting me on one!

Great thread.
🙂

Can you get stock tandems with the same frame size back and front, or would that be a custom job?

I can ride front or back on our tandem with no issues. I’ve ridden on the back of my mates tandem, and his is a frame size smaller than mine, though it did feel a little cramped. You might not need a custom frame, just some jiggling with seatpost sizes…

I also referred to them as The Luggage

Mine would help himself to snacks from my jersey back pockets and be happily chattering up the steepest hills, you certainly don’t get much work out of them!

Not sure I could cope mentally with being the rear rider and not clearly seeing where I was going, I’ll wait for a catamaran style tandem with three wheels! 😆

Not sure I could cope mentally with being the rear rider and not clearly seeing where I was going, I’ll wait for a catamaran style tandem with three wheels!

My brother has an electric assist one of these since sister in laws ms has progressed, they love it

Edit – she can even freewheel & the stand means she can stay resting on the tandem too 🙂

go fat!

^^^ thats just silly, saving up for something like this when we retire

Mine would help himself to snacks from my jersey back pockets and be happily chattering up the steepest hills, you certainly don’t get much work out of them!

I remember pedaling along one time on our tandem with Mrs Beagleboy. I could feel something weird on my back, but couldn’t quite figure it out until we went past a shop window and I saw what was going on. She was engrossed in a magazine she’d spread open on my back. 🙄

C. 🙂

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