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a friend of mine has been asked to transport a tandem, from London, to Devon.
he drives a new style Mondeo (good looking saloon type) and reckons he should be able to get it in the boot.
the person who he is transporting it for says
"you cant take the wheels off, if you do, the brakes need bleeding", which sounds to me like she hasnt worked out to block hydraulic brakes back.
anyhoo.
any one got an suggestions as to how long an average tandem is?
with wheels?
without wheels?
how would one transport it?
i guess trains are a no no...
and dont say ride it...
Ours is about 8 1/2 foot from the front of the front wheel to the back of the back wheel.
I take the wheels out and put it on a rear mounted rack.
Before we got one with S&S couplings (can now put it on the back seat easily) I used to roof rack the tandem. I bolted an extra length of channel to one of those bike racks that hold a completer bike upright by the down tube. That made it long enough but I had to re-centre it on the roof bars. Needed a chunk of plywood for that but it worked okay.
Odd comment abou the brakes mind!
funnily enough, i saw one on the roof of a car in edinburgh this morning. looked like a mondeo-type sized car with a grey-haired man wearing yellow riding specs. rock on.
don't see why not
saloon bit will be more of a hassle
sure some friends used to wedge theirs into a 306!
frame and forks about the size of a door?
cheers guys, that sounds good.
ta for the length stu.
if one went in a 306, i should go in a mondeo with a bit of crowbarring.
i will pass it on
They are a pain to transport. However ours is about 5 1/2 ft for just the frame - so some spanner work and you can get it into a fairly small space.
ta for the length stu.
That sounds so wrong. 😯
You can get some pretty good roof mounted carriers for them, but they aren't cheap.
My parents have a very nice one with a gas strut so you hardly have to lift the tandem at all 🙂
We put ours into a Focus estate - wheels out, helps to take the bars and seatposts out as well - went in with just wheels out easily into our old Berlingo.
singlespeedstu - MemberOurs is about 8 1/2 foot from the front of the front wheel to the back of the back wheel.
is it a singlespeed?
Often carry our Dawes on the rear rack (no wheels), but Previa swallows it in one.
We once carried our old tandem in the Citroen 2CV, took all the seats out but drivers, wife would sit on a wooden stool in back!
In northern Spain they closed a complete train carriage to accomodate tandem!
I have transported a tandem on a train before now. With the ftront wheel removed it was fine.
I've also got an Xtracyle on trains. It seems to be about how you approach it. If you're reserving it, tell no-one, just say it's a bike. If you're not reserving it, make sure you can rapidly do something with it to get it secure and out of the way before the guard starts to think you're a problem.
🙂
That sounds so wrong.
or so right 😉
theflatboy - Membersinglespeedstu - Member
Ours is about 8 1/2 foot from the front of the front wheel to the back of the back wheel.
is it a singlespeed?
What has it's length got to do with how many gears it has. 😆
i'm asking because you're the owner, not because of how long it is.
so is it?
ATM it's got gears on it.
It's hard enough dragging the stoker round as it is. 😉
(don't tell her i said that though)
Would love to take this out for a spin though.
Steel, singlespeed, rigid and a 29er.
Niche heaven.
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fair enough - you going to SS it? i guess with two of you you might even have more of a chance of having a workable ratio for most occasions than on a normal bike? though i guess you'd be more susceptible to spinning out quicker...
SS tandem would be rubbish - you can't ( unless you are very good) stand up and mash up hills and you pick speed up so quickly on downhills that you would soon spin out. Ours is 22/36 / bash ATM and we could do both with a lower gear and spin off the top on easy stuff.
Tha Da Vinci on the other thread has a 48 speed
what happens if you try to stand up and push up hills (if you're not "very good")?
i guess with two of you you might even have more of a chance of having a workable ratio for most occasions than on a normal bike?
You've not tried riding a tandem uphill have you.
Fast on the flat and downhill but very hard work on the climbs.
We might give it a go though just to see what it's like. 😀
what happens if you try to stand up and push up hills (if you're not "very good")?
You end up fighting each other. 😳
You've not tried riding a tandem uphill have you.
no, even though i'd love to have a go i've never even sat on one!
You're more than welcome to have a go on either seat of ours.
what happens if you try to stand up and push up hills (if you're not "very good")?
You wobble all over the place then fall off
Biff and Grant managed okay on a S/S tandem at a couple of UK Championships
singlespeedstu - MemberI take the wheels out and put it on a rear mounted rack
it works - another vote
and pushing hard on hills doesn't work - you have to push AND shout!
i want to see a video of both the pushing/shouting climbing and the standing up then falling over manoeuvres! oh and thanks for the offer stu, if ever there is a chance to take you up on it then i would love to!
Give us a shout next time your in the Midlands or Mid Wales.
if it has a rack and guards there's little benefit to dropping the rear wheel out, i got one of these
in a customers zafira the other day just removing the front wheel but i think a tandem for two adults in the back of a mondeo saloon is unlikely.