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Submitted by
Eric Ostendorff
a Recreational Rider
from Date Reviewed: June 25, 2007
Strengths: Cheap.
Good bet for first time tandemers who may or may not like tandem riding. It's not for everyone.
Stable feel, we've gone downhill at 56 MPH and it feels solid.
Rack mounts front & rear.
Drum brake compatible (not sure how that would affect stock wheel/spoke life, though!)Weaknesses: Heavy, approx 45 lbs for large/medium. Steel's real!
Horrible shifting action that starts bad and deteriorates rapidly. The shift cables kink around a plate with 2 holes under the captain's BB and the friction is pathetic. KHS cheaped out here. I made a radiused delrin cable guide that screwed on to the plate. That, plus teflon shift cables and a Rollermajig solved the shift problems.
Junkiest wheels you could imagine. I weigh 180, the wife 130, and we've broken countless spokes on the rear, despite babying the wheel. No RR tracks, no potholes. Sometimes as few as 30 miles between broken spokes. The LBS relaced the wheel, same problem. Then they rePlaced the wheel, same problem. Then I relaced the wheel. Better, no broken spokes, but requires constant retruing. We also broke one spoke on the front at ~2000 miles. I bought another wheelset that is much better. BTW, tandem wheels and hubs are NOT cheap.
Bike requires mods to be reliable, so you either need to tinker with it yourself or pay the bike shop.Bottom Line: This is a good entry level tandem. I'm mainly an ultra-distance solo rider and bike tourer. I wasn't sure if the new wife would like tandeming, but she really does. She's done several century rides on it. We've ridden it for a year and a half, and we're ready for a better tandem to do some touring. We can still sell this one for maybe $500, so it was a good buy. It is a heavy beast, and the 8-speed shifting action was dismal before modification, and the wheels keep popping spokes. It's not a high performance machine, and it needs some mods to make it reliable. Don't buy it and jump on it for a long tour far from home! But for a low price you get a new machine that you can set up for everyone's liking.
Favorite Ride: LA-San Diego Century Ride
Price Paid:
$875.00
Purchased At: ebay
Similar Products Used: No other tandems tried. LOTS of miles on Trek and Specialized singles.
Bike Setup: Made a custom shift cable guide and mods per above in "weaknesses". Replaced junk wheels with Edco/Wheelsmith wheels, much more reliable. Nashbar rack & trunk bag. We've had good luck with $10 Performance tires front & rear: Forte GT2 Kevlar 700x28. About 500 miles out of a rear tire, 900 from the front.
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