Anyone got one?

Post over on mlehworld for TandemJeremy?

Mine is around 48lbs could easily lose at least 5 from that.

Spec:
‘dale frame
Hope big un hubs and 721 rims (heavy – the rear is 6 1/2 lb with tyre)
Hope 4 pots
Z1 bomber fork
Basic shitmano cranksets
Mix of XTR and XT gears with Sram twistshift
Big heavy coomfy saddles, thudbuster, rack, full mudguards, bottle cages

MTB tandems in the states reakon they could build a reliable and toough tandem that would be under 35lbs – but no one will pay the price

Cheers TJ.

Ooh, not sure really probably at least 40lb, it can be a bit hairy getting it up to and down from the loft.
Similar buildup to Tj’s except fork is z1fr2, XT tandem rear hub with Hope O2 and 20mm Hope and Ti6 front, Middleburn tandem cranks and a Thudbuster.

No idea.

i’ll have to weigh it.

Looks like this though. 😉

I forgot – we also have 3 bashrings on it ( after bending a few chainrings) must be another lb there

BIg tart 😛

Just a thought – we ended up cutting down the stoker bars so that they weren’t too wide. Helps for transporting the beast and for riding singletrack.

are the chains just std strength, but longer?

It has crossed my mind to do the same thing. 8)

Standard chains – just moron. 😯

Chains – rear is the same as standard length – timing chain is 1 1/2 rear chains. I use normal chains. The rear lasts 500 milesish. I want to go Rohlofgf so as to use singlespeed chains that might not wear as quick. It is as expensive per mile in chains and tyres as a superbike.

Our touring Cannondale mt800 XL/M weighs in around 40+lbs with racks, Hope V2 twin up front, 40 spoke wheels etc. XT groupo
Lighter than two equivalent spec’d mtbs. And th eaero dynamics are much improved. Wife and I can do big speeds for long periods on this beauti and she gets to talk to me at the same time.
Stainless chains last longer but cost twice as much, better IMO for touring.
This one was a low end Shimano

hell’s bells SSS – that’s a behemoth – nice

Funnily enough, over dinner tonight my missus said that she’d consider riding a tandem with me even though i’v been unsuccessfully trying to get her to learn to ride a (‘normal’) bike.

I’ve got an awful feeling that the answer to my question is ‘blumming expensive’ but how much would a low-end mtb tandem work out at?

Any recomendations for a stainless chain then?

andrew.

Talk to the nice folks at JD Cycles in Ilkley.

They’ll do you a build to your own spec.

Dunno, but when the weather gets a bit better we’ll be towing a bob-yak with ours for extra length (but probably not girth)

Talk to the nice folks at JD Cycles in Ilkley.

Will do, cheers 🙂 She’s just said that it can be my valentine’s gift to her next year. I might suggest going halves would be inkeeping with the spirit of tandems!

who would typically be the stoker if your riding with a mixed pair? Assuming the female is smaller and not as strong?

dawes double edge these are fairly cheap I think. I’ve currently got one in my garage, its my neighbours but I’ve had it for the past 8 months….the girlfriend and I really enjoy it although we haven’t been any more off road than richmond park.

neilnevill – you should come out with us to Swinley or the Surrey Hills. Actually we’ve ridden out and back to Peaslake with ours.

Cost – £1000 is a minimum start point really – ours owes us £2000plus replacing worn parts – bought second hand and upgraded. Would be over 3 grand new. Of course you can spend anything you want – get a davinci and hit the options list hard ( titanium frame / S&S couplers, rohloff) and you could be pushing £10 000

As for who rides stoker – most couple the woman / smaller person rides as stoker but IMO it is very useful for you both to try both seats – helps gain confidence and understanding. I actually quite enjoy going on the back.

Always try before you buy. Some couples just don’t get on with them. JDcycles seem to be good – and some folk love SJS down south – more touring orientated than MTB tho.

MTB tandems in the states do their own brand fandango which are utterly bargainacious.

I want a davinci! But not this build

Or there’s always Seven, and if I can get Hewings to send me a picture Litespeed made a Blade tandem.

SSS – that tandem would appear to have more gears than your username would suggest should be the case!

The davinci has 32 gears

Hmm, better start saving. I thought a grand would be about the entry price. Cheers for the guidance.

Andrew, we got lucky having scoured the classifieds and ebay for months when a Dawes Double Edge frame came up for buttons. It was unused too. I’ve just finished building it up – wheels and hubs are expensive if you go for the proper ones, but everything else is largely just two of standard mtb kit. TandemJeremy was incredibly helpful (I plagued him endlessly by email!). I’d post a pic if I had any idea how to.

Once we remember how to steer a tandem again, hope to try out Swinley with some of the tandemers on here. But at present it’s all practice. we’ve mastered starting and stopping now. Lots of fun, both of you need to work at it.

Ours is probably about 40lbs or just over too and a Fandango from MTBTandems with a Rohloff and Marz 66s on. Definately worth speaking to Alex at MTBTandems if anyones considering buying a tandem, top bloke who really knows his stuff when it comes to tandems and he had some nice stuff in his garage when I went visiting.

aP, fancy another tandem ride at some point? STW tandem meet anyone?

Andrew, we got lucky having scoured the classifieds and ebay for months when a Dawes Double Edge

🙂 After panicking about laying out a grand for something that Emma might not take to immediately I started having a look through ebay and realised that for ‘starters’ a cheap Dawes might be the answer. She doesn’t ride a bike *at all* so just getting her on two wheels will be an achievement so if it means big wheels and cycle/canal paths then so be it. If a mtb one turns up at the right price at the right time then all the better 🙂

Might be worth getting in touch with these folks for a try out.

http://www.tandeming.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=21&Itemid=195

The one in Ironbridge sometimes sell off there test fleet too.

Dawes double edge is a decent starting point. A sus fork on it and you have a basic MTB tandem. Start off with the Dawes – get on with it and add some decent wheels ( MTBtandem wheels need to be strong)and a sus fork to get real offroad potential. Enjoy it and then you can upgrade the frame.

Using a spring balance and a trembling arm, our Cannondale comes in something like 42 lbs.

We found the Cannondale was a lot stiffer (torsionally) than the budget stuff – the ‘dale has one piece top and diagonal tubes that run full length front to back (holes bored through for the pilot’s seat tube to pierce them). Cheaper stuff uses shorter individual tubes. When buying we tried the 2 types back to back and it made a big difference when cranking up hills or trying to stand and pedal.

However, our tandem has been gathering too much “babydust” and will be going on the classifieds in a few weeks – keep an eye open if interested!

Ours is a Dawes Double Edge built for Steve from Pyractif for riding in the Pyrenees (allegedly by LA cycles in Coventry). I don’t think that you’ll have a problem with the Dawes ours has ridden flights of stairs, in the Peaks, round Thetford at D2D, round the Isle of Wight, all over the Surrey Hills (BKB was a giggle).
Unless we were to buy something like a Ventana or Seven then I see no real need to upgrade it.

ps bugpowderdust – meeting up again would be great – I think I’ve sorted out that brake issue, need to get my cricked neck sorted out first though 🙁

<cough> <cough> got an old dawes double edge for sale in the classifieds… 🙂 Not a hardcore build (rigid and v-brakes) but we’ve had good laughs off road on it.

there are some nice looking tandems on here! i like the look of this beast:

yay – Jesus bar ends. Does your stoker have stigmata?

Some friends of ours have the prototype Ellsworth Witness – its a bit of a beast. Was the only time my style of riding got kudos from the Swinley jump chute boys when we took 2 tandems down it one after another.

Andy – she wanted them and what she wants she gets 🙂

However they have gone now. fell off into my spares box