Tandems of the forum

Rep

Fixed tandem with just a front brake? A touch braver than this little black duck.

You may want to realign the cranks to make out of the saddle riding a touch easier. The timing cranks look to be 1-2 teeth out of sync.

very wobbly

I found the Hed3 on the front didn't help, they're OK on a solo but lack axial stiffness.

realign the cranks

If only by inverting the current phase offset to have the pilot leading. I think most people prefer it that way around for comfort, and AFAIK the aero-optimised phase angle is approximately pilot leading by whatever angle propels the machine the length between crank centres. In radians, that's (2×crank centres)/(gear inches)

This is perverse, good work. I cannot imagine how unpleasant it must be descending on that.

Anyone ever tried getting tandems on the Suffolk (greateranglia) trains into London? Alternatively, any ideas for (ideally affordably) transporting a tandem a 100 miles without access to a car?

Ride it? :D

I phoned up about this once, GA train from Stratford to Liverpool St. They said I could just take it on.

I rode in the end though, 7 year old stoker fancied the ride rather than a train

If it were me, I’d just chance it on a quiet, off-peak service. The few times I’ve taken mine in and out of kings cross or St Pancras up to Cambridgeshire, I’ve just walked it on unchallenged. Even took it down the escalator because the lift wasn’t working.

Avatar for falconvitessefalconvitesse
Message from a friend of mine below, its miles from me and i have no idea about the tandem but if anybody is interested let know. I also have no way of garnering any more info unfortunately..

Tandem bike at one of Grace’s families house, they have said it is going to be chucked out and if anyone wants it they can! Only issue it’s in Hemel Hempstead. I don’t have a house for it to sit in, but it’s in really good condition for a vintage bike, anyone interested?

KGX might be good for that because barriers generally seem to be open; worried slightly about overzealous station staff stopping me at the gates!

i’m thinking of going 8spd x1 11-40 on our tandem- any experience of 1x on tandems?

Just seen this Thorn tandem for sale on Facebook marketplace for £500
Thought I’d share here

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/758307549108805/

Tandem rear wheel up for grabs

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/387111/

Depends on the riding you do and the chainring you choose, I don't think it would be that different to using a 1x on a touring bike. Reliability wise, 8spd is beefy but you'll have some huge jumps.
We have an 11-34 8spd cassette that is spaced to be usable across the range. The 11-34 used to jump 26 to 34 so I cobbled one together from a 11-34 and 11-32 (jumps 28-32). (See here.) They seem to sell this arrangement now which is useful https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/claris-r2000/CS-HG50-8.html

Anyone looking for a decent tandem in 531, I'm selling mine:
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/388185/

Project thread here.

nice bike, altho not our size. out of curiosity, is the tensioning chainring just for style, or does it not have an eccentric bb?

It has an eccentric BB but I wasn't quite happy with the chain tension, and didn't have a half link handy, so saw it as a good excuse to use a floating chainring. That sync chain has now stretched a tiny bit (<0.5%) so a whole link could be removed and the eccentric BB would suffice alone.

We went for a wee burn on tandem #2 in the pissing wet rain today. Excellent fun with a nice mid-ride cafe stop to dry off.

This Dawes was bought locally-ish for £200 (£200!) as, for now, our main Orbit lives at my parent's house in Scotland. From there, it is taken out for two long tours per year.

As you can see, I've had to compensate for the comically small head tube with an offensive riser stem and Albatross ripoff Humpert bars. While aesthetically unforgivable, this setup is divinely comfortable. It's also marginally higher than the Nitto MT11 + Albatross combo on our Orbit, which improves my line of sight in traffic.

This bike is my first with Magura rim brakes. Finding hose for these was a total nightmare, but they were very easy to bleed. They are tremendously powerful in the dry but don't feel as strong as our XT brakes on the tandem. I might be talking total shite, but I suspect this is because the brake compound is harder than the usual Clarks pads I use on the Orbit and the pads are smaller.

Even with the wide tyres, the 26in wheels are less forgiving than 700c IMO, particularly on bouncy roads. The alloy frame tracks more accurately but it's less forgiving on off-camber or rough terrain than the steel Orbit.

Overall though, for £200 (+ £50 in parts?), it's a banger.

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Thorn adult/child tandem for £320:

https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/330515-thorn-adult-and-child-tandem-£320/

Got this for sale, open to offers.

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/387920/

I've just purchased this for 80 quid.

It's a 3.5 hour round trip to collect it.

Not sure if it's a bloody good deal or I've been an idiot. Says its been well looked after and serviced.

Guess I'll find out next week.

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Not sure if it's a bloody good deal or I've been an idiot

Most used tandem purchases are both. Beware of accidently ending up with 30 tandems (and I don't think the count even includes triplets and tandem trikes) like my friend who can't resist such a bargain

Looks great! Remember the first rule of tandem club - the stoker is always right - and you’ll have a great time.

The stoker is likely to mostly be my missus.

When I told her I'd purchased a tandem she said, believe it or not "ill go on it with you but you'll be doing most of the peddling though right?"

Fml