We're engaged; let's get a tandem

Is that a quill/ahead converter on there?

The vintage says yes, but that cable stop for the brakes seems to be above the headset... Maybe it's just clamped around the adapter itself? The seller said he was going to put up more pictures.

The first Christmas adverts are already playing...and Santa has visited 11 weeks early!

That's Dia Compe ENE mudguards, Humpert Englischer bars (x2), a Tange Levin headset, chrome bar end plugs (x2), and, most excitingly, the Dia Compe braze-on-to-centre-pull adapter kit.

The adapter kit came direct from Lapland. Or Canada, at least. For some reason, Santa sent me two and didn't charge postage. I must have been a very good boy this year. Seems like it's going to be an exact fit for my frame, once I have stripped the paint from the braze-ons.

Why does my headset have a born-on date?

Buying a U-brake only to find that it doesn't fit your frame - £13.98
Sourcing obscure rear-brake mounting kit from Canada - £10.89
Buying a set of two extra-long Weinmann straddle wires even though you only need one - £12
Buying two cable bridges because you lost the originals in the parts box - £1.89
Purchasing extra-long tandem brake cable and brake outer - £6

Installing a brake that you will probably never use, purely for mechanical high jinks - Priceless

Here's a brief and badly photographed mock-up of the tandem.

Stoker cockpit looks like it might be too cramped, but I have less protruding bars as back-up if so. Probably going to stick with the MTB brake levers, because they're mechanically solid, which feels somehow more important with a tandem. Frame is crying out for mudguards.

The LBS near work managed to crack my new crown race while attempting to set it. They have refunded me the cost of the entire headset, but I can't be bothered to buy a new one, so when I have a chance I'll re-install the old brinelled one as it'll be simple to replace it with a new one at some point in the future.

Just waiting for a bit more free time so that I can start building things up properly.

Great project! Any progress?

Finally got some free evenings this week and I've been building up the tandem. Will aim to get some photos up tonight.

So far everything has come together nicely (including the parking brake!) but I'm having a problem installing one of the seatposts. It came out of the frame with no trouble at all but it's an unusually tight squeeze to get it back in. I've already scratched it pretty badly in the process - albeit where the scratches won't show.

Suspect the problem might be to do with my central heating making the metal expand (although the other post went in fine) so I've left the offending seatpost outside in the cold all day. Will try again this evening.

I was going to say throw it in the freezer! @Diamond_Supercool

After its day outside in the cold, the seatpost agreed to go into the frame with slightly less of the struggle.

Took the tandem out for its first proper test ride over the weekend. So, SO much fun! Even if we were only pootling around South London. Discovered that there were some pretty worn parts though, so splurged on SJS Cycles last night. Here's what's coming in the post:

New 52t and 46t chainrings
New six-speed rear freewheel
New chain (drive, not timing)
Cork handlebar grips (decided against wrapping the bars)
Silver bottle cages.

I've also had to true the rear wheel quite a bit. Will get pictures as soon as I have an opportunity to take some in daylight.

Possibly the most entertaining thing about riding a tandem is the smile that crosses the face of almost anybody you pass.

This is awesome, can't believe I've only just seen this.

Yeah, but magine how much more awesome it would be if I were adding this to the Gazelle collection.

fun cool nice. my only thought is touring on a tandem is like hiking with your ankles tied to each other.

tandems are meant for day trips and racing only.

No one told that to @6pt and @tricitybendix when they went round Spain on their tandem...

I went touring on our tandem in france with the missus and it was awesome. I wouldn't do it any other way.

Parts arrived.

Friday night sorted.

Pictures tomorrow.

Gears now working with glorious efficiency. Brakes likewise. The thing is a total pleasure to ride. Fiancee absolutely loves it too. Her trust levels currently at about 80%. But every time I turn for a corner a little too late, that level drops by about 2%. Soon builds back up though.

We were going to take the tandem on a trip from Tulse Hill to a party in De Beauvoir tonight but the weather forecast is too unpleasant. Planning a daytrip tomorrow instead.

Here's photos from Brockwell Park this afternoon.

Parts list, if anyone cares. Excluding postage, everything here came in under £300!

Frame AMR Pilot = 60cm st; 58cm tt Stoker = 58cm st 60cm tt
Forks Gazelle (non-original)
Front wheel: Weinmann alloy rim on Suntour Cyclone hub, 40-spoke
Rear wheel: Weinmann alloy rim on Suntour Cyclone hub, 40-spoke
Skewers: Suntour
Tyres: Hutchinson Kevlar HP28 28mm
Seatpost (pilot): Kalloy 26.2mm
Saddle (stoker): San Marco Rolls
Seatpost (stoker): Stronglight 26.2mm
Saddle (stoker): Unbranded
Brake levers: Dia Compe
Gear shifters Shimano Deore stem shifter - six speed
Front and rear brakes: Shimano cantilever, BR AT50
Rear drag-brake : Weinmann centrepull (with back plate removed)
Rear brake mounting kit: Dia Compe
Front derailler: Shimano Deore triple
Rear derailler: Shimano Deore, six-speed
Screw-on freewheel: Shimano MF-TZ20 Hyperglide 6 Speed Freewheel - 14-28T
Cranks + chainrings: Stronglight 100LX 170mm cranks. Stronglight triple chainring (52t-42t-32t), 86mm BCD
Timing cranks: Stronglight 100LX 170mm cranks. Stronglight 32t chainring
Bottom bracket (pilot): Stronglight competition, 1''37x24F
Eccentric BB: ???
Bottom bracket (stoker): Stronglight, 1''37x24F
Pedals (captain): Shimano PD-T100
Pedals (stoker): Shimano PD-T100
Drive chain: Shimano CN-HG40 6/7/8-speed
Timing chain: Sachs
Bars (pilot): Humpert Englischer Handlebars - 25.4 mm Clamp
Stem (pilot): SR Royal, 115mm ctc
Bars (stoker): Humpert Englischer Handlebars - 25.4 mm Clamp
Stem (stoker): Pivo
Headset: Tange Seiki Levin
Grips: Thorn anatomical cork
Bottle cages: Blackburn BC1 competition
Mudguards: Dia-Compe ENE Mudguard Set - 700c - 40mm
Extra long straddle wire: Weinmann (150mm rather than 100mm)

Looks amazing.

Does the drag brake go to the little left hand thumbie shifter?

Where did you source the bolts for the additional rear brake? Are they just standard brake-boss bolts or do they have an unthreaded section to fit snugly into the black plastic shim?

@hugo7, Yes. I had to pinch that thumb shifter from an long-abandoned mountain bike. We're running it with a brake cable rather than a gear cable. Works absolutely fine as a parking brake. Goodness knows whether I'd trust it on a long sketchy descent though.

@ffm, the bolts are threaded the whole way down and not done up tight. But you make a good point; I should probably source some semi-threaded ones.

Cheers, I ask because it's apparently possible to use an extra yoke on the outside of the arms to act as a brake booster, but that requires finding extra- long bolts with the right length and diameter unthreaded section.

use an extra yoke on the outside of the arms to act as a brake booster

Sounds intriguing, but I can't picture what you mean?

You've done a great job with this. Does it flex much!?

It does flex, much more noticeably than any of my other steel bikes. No great surprise, given that the pilot is basically just suspended on thin scaffolding, miles away from where the tyres meet the road. But the most surprising thing so far has been how remarkably stable the whole thing is - even at really low speeds.

Planning a few days of light touring at some point in April. Topics for discussion will include whether to respray the pink frame (Pale green? Light metallic blue?) and whether to invest in matching Brooks saddles.

Hopefully not exactly matching - your stoker will probably appreciate the 'S' version of whatever you get!

Lolz every time we ride this around town. Everyone wants a go too. So we're planning some improvements.

First improvement is new seatposts. These will replace the current pilot's seatpost, which is too short, and the stoker's seatpost which, despite being the same 26.2mm diameter as the pilot's, has never been a happy fit. I'm hoping that a 26.0mm seatpost will be more comfortable.

Love the "2/6" safety rating on these seatposts.

...But much less impressed that, depsite being manufactured by the same company and advertised as identical...they don't bloody match. Not even close.

Second improvement will be a new paintjob. Yep, afraid so. Probably a kind of metallic blue. A bit like this.