Tandems of the forum

Yeah the bcd of the timing cranks caused issues when it came to sourcing replacement rings, but a slightly more modern crankset was long overdue for it anyway so I solved the problem that way (but still have the new-ish rings (one tour on them, about 1500 miles), if you want them).
Are lowrider bosses the bits halfway up the fork? If so, mine has them. With a tubus tara quite happily attached.

re: the drum lever - more standard is to route it to a bar end shifter, @hovis has experience of this.

Yeah, those are the ones.

Did you have to replace the headset with another JIS one or did you find a way around it? From my googling (and Sheldon), it seems mostly to be the crown race that's different with the rest interchangeable with the standard (ISO) 1" headset.

You can get 27mm crown races for some headsets, or you can get the steerer cut down to 26.5mm to take a standard 26.4mm crown race, so it's not a big problem.

Always take a good look at the front BB eccentric when buying a tandem, all types are prone to stripped clamp screw threads in the hands of clumsy mechanics.

I got a nos shimano 600 one for £25 from the excellent spa cycles. and tester is spot on with the ebb bolts - I finally rounded the head on one of mine at the end of last year after years of it being not-quite-right. ho hum. will deal with that when this year's tour is a bit more pressing.

Anyone fancy lending me their tandem in September for a week? I'm driving to France with the Mrs and would love to take her out for a short peddle on one. It would probably be the only time we would do that so I couldn't justify buying one. Happy to pay in beers! It would be very well looked after.

there's probably somewhere out there you'll be able to rent one? they're a bit tedious to take anywhere by car really. they're a bit tedious to take anywhere through any means other than riding, and even that can be a bit of a pain sometimes ;)

We are staying in the middle of the country side so renting options might involve a big detour. Plus I am anticipating Mrs sacred not being as keen as me so we prob won't be on it very long. Travelling with one is no prob I have a van.

I've just joined the Tandem club with a '74 Jack Taylor Super Tourist tandem about a month ago. Fillet brazed 531 frame, 650B wheels, Jack Taylor custom racks, seatpost/stem. T.A. Pro Vis Cranks, Suntour/Campag gears. So far we've taken it down to Sussex and around London after giving it a mini-overhaul. It's our first tandem and what shocked us was how well it rode for such an old bike (compared to a crappy modern tandem we hired once), the low trail steering really makes it steer quite briskly for a tandem.

More here http://smutpedaller.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/jackyll

Mine and @ellicopter's
We'd quite like to change the handle bars to something like flat bars with ergo grips on the end, and move the stokers reach forward.

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Talking about stoker's reach, after a few months on our bike we're now having to admit we could do with a little more space in the back. I posted a wanted ad for something like this:

Looking at that Jack Taylor up there it seems like something like the captain's (wonderful) seatpost would do too. Sorry to spam it here, but if anyone can help it'd allow us to keep a frame we're starting to feel very attached to.

Would any kind / foolhardy forum tandemers lend their tandem out for a couple of hours so we can find out whether we're temperamentally suited to sharing a bike.

Both experienced cyclists (well he is, those who have ridden with me can judge for themselves, but I've piloted a tandem once before). It would only for a short experimental spin, and there's no hurry. Gratitude expressed in form of beers or similar.

Do you need to know heights etc?

Where are you based? I'd be happy to help, been there too.

Likewise, there's an Orbit tandem languishing in our SE23 shed and I'd be happy to fettle it up for a test ride. Set up currently for 5'9" pilot and 5'7" stoker but some variation possible.

And ^^^ @Vesalius if you're parting with the bars on your stately Orbit, let me know. Is that Blickling? I rode there on a Mezzo D10 once...

Btw we have a setup that' suit a 185cm - ish captain and a 165cm - ish stoker.

Will do :)

And yes it's Blickling!

I'm in Brixton and he's N London - but v happy to travel. Your set-up sounds about right - he's 5'11 (Is that 185cm?) I'm 167cm.

@Ludd - would yours take much fettling - don't want to create work. Missed you on the IoW -started off rubbish,but got much nicer as teh day went on.I think staying in a warm, dry B and B helped.

5'11 (Is that 185cm?)

It's approximately 180cm, but like everybody's, his height will vary slightly around that value.

Might be a tiny bit on the big side on the front, but we can move saddle to make up for it. The bike is a Dawes Super Galaxy, and we're based in De Beauvoir. Send me a pm if you'd like to arrange something.

KT - happy to offer another alternative. Ours is currently set up a bit taller for both captain and stoker, but would probably suit your purposes. It's currently sitting in a car park in Canary Wharf.

Thank all - super kind. Will PM

Had a ride on my mates brand new Thorn ME'N'U2 round Victoria Park yesterday.
He's got 3 children ranging in age from 1 - 8 and the most amazing collection of family friendly bikes.
He's bringing all 3 children on a ride we're doing to Paris in August. Rides amazingly well and I had a grin from ear to ear.

Bumped into Thorn off the peg frames on sjs and was somewhat surprised at the price, really not too bad. If it'd would be possible to just chuck all my current parts onto one of their frames (yeah, right) then it's not a massive investment. People speak wonders of them, but never had the chance to ride one.

Thorn tandems regularly come up on EvilBay if budget is the issue.

But if you have the £ people speak highly of the shop, and SJS cycles will have this random small part that's impossible to get anywhere... :)

True. I guess what's tempting is the multiple choice of size.

I'm in the very early preplanning stages of having a custom tandem built.
Are there any 11 speed tandem groupsets out there?
Looking at groupsets. What are some of the better groupsets available? FSA SLK? Shimano R603? What levers for cable pull disc? Would you go for a gates carbon belt drive for the timing?