1952 Jack Taylor curved seat tandem - Their FIRST registered tandem - now £480

Bought from knowthejo last year on here. I knew it could be a bit small but I convinced myself otherwise.... but in fact it is a bit small. Ha. I'm 6'1" and my wife 5'10". This will suit somebody a couple of inches smaller.
It a real beauty! Very original for a 1952 bike!
Bought for £750 - offering for £650 for a quick sale if possible. NOW £580>> NOW £480!
I'm in Norfolk but come by East London and Essex a bit - if you want to meet in any of those places.

IGNORE the terrible riser bars in the pictures below, that was just to see if my wife could be made more comfortable, but we are both too big unfortunately. It now has 2x cinelli drop bars fitted. These will need wrapping. I've also set up the rear caliper brakes since the pictures.

The original advert below stolen from Jo because I forgot all the details (sorry!):

Very rare curved seat-tube short wheel-base that was usually for racing and track tandems, rather than touring tandems like this.
Size wise the pilot seat-tube is 22 inches ctc with top-tube 22.5 inches. Stoker is 21 seat-tube and 21.5 top-tube ctc. The current set-up was perfect for a 5'8-5'11 pilot and 5'5-5'9 stoker i reckon.
Its the original paint job, which is well chipped but beautiful patina and who would want to respray something so loving painted by Jack himself.
Its been stripped and rebuilt, with the wheel-set being professionally rebuilt with stainless tied and soldered spokes laced to NOS Mavic module 3 Argent rims, the original Maxi-car drum brake and a NOS Phil wood front hub, and new Panaracer Passela tyres.
Its set up with Nitto moustache bars and the pilot is running Mafac levers (including a dual pull lever) with early Campag barcons - with a pretty wide ratio rear 5 speed and tripple front - so gearing works well for most terrain.
All other components have been stripped and rebuilt - highlights are:
Original piston operated Simplex JUY rear mech
Mafac cantilevers with new salmon pads
Stronglight 49d full tandem chainset
Nitto M12 front rack
Brooks saddles
What else:
I have the original aluminium fluted fenders. The pedals are mismatched on the front. The drum brake has yet to be re-cabled as I didn't need it for city riding. But I have all the parts and cables for it to be re-cabled and its a simple job.
They seem to be pretty variable on the bay and ones in great nick go for £1500-2000 and this is a pretty rare one with the curved seat-tube.

The only modifications I've made in my ownership is adding a campag downtube lever clamped to the top tube so the stoker can operate the rear drum brake (easily reversible if you prefer operating both calipers with one lever (the lever has provision for pulling 2 cables). I'm also making a neat metal bracket for the drum brake arm, so that works a treat.
I've also fitted 2 classic cinelli drop bars instead of the Nitto bars (as the rear one hit the pilots legs) but I can supply with the Nitto bars if you prefer.

A really classy tandem.

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Would love it, Unfortunately nowhere to store it. GLWS.

Cheers! Yeah, Tandems don't tuck away do they. But the curved seat tube saves some precious space in the length :)

I still have this - It turns out to be the first tandem made by Jack Taylor - The workshop build list attached. This is frame #2401
Now offered for £580 as it sits. You'll need to set up the bars and brakes, but otherwise it is good to go.
I think that makes it fairly significant and I hope it finds a good home.
Extra pictures attached showing the original fluted mudguards

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That's lovely. Wish I had the space. GLWS

Thanks. I'd be keeping it if it fitted me :(
I need it gone now though, otherwise I'll start taking parts off it. It would be a shame to break it.

I still have this if anyone is interest now the sun is out.
£560 for the first tandem built by the workshop. It's an easy project to be fully rideable, but has lots of amazing parts. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FRONT BROOKS SADDLE HAS NOW GONE ON ANOTHER PROJECT
The bike can be delivered to East London for an extra £20 (anywhere on the A12, Walthamstow, Leytonstone, Clapton, Hackney), Harlow or Norwich.

Ridiculously nice bike.
Has it been cross posted on the tandem thread?

No way! I never knew that it was the first tandem! How incredible. Wish I had never got rid of it.

I think I spent close to the asking price on getting wheels built!!

If you struggle to sell it here - you might want to try CTC or Retrobike - there might be more people with an interest in the historic nature of the bike considering you have discovered its the first tandem.

Also the registry here will be super interested and might know of a collector: http://www.blackbirdsf.org/taylor/serials_mod_touringtandem.html

Thanks :)
Yeah, I shared a picture on the jacktaylor facebook page and they came back with that little gem of information!
It's still available if you want it? I'd be keeping it if it actually fitted me.

Thanks for the pointers, I'll take a look :) The wheels are really great. I'm tempted to put them on another 50's frame I have, but I think they should stay with the tandem frame.

I would be so tempted to buy it back - but im in Sweden now and now way of storing it in the UK. Plus I had the pleasure of having it to tinker with for over 10 years.

It needs to be in a museum or ridden - not in a basement in a flat in south east london like it was with only me to pop down occasionally and stroke it...

I still have this. It doesn't fit me so I really need to sell it on.
£480 -
...... for the first tandem built by the workshop. It's an easy project to be fully rideable, but has lots of amazing parts. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FRONT BROOKS SADDLE HAS NOW GONE ON ANOTHER PROJECT
The bike can be delivered to East London for an extra £30 (anywhere on the A12, Walthamstow, Leytonstone, Clapton, Hackney), Harlow or Norwich.
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Wow that’s a bargain for such a collectors piece - sadly I have neither the room or a willing tandem partner (I’ve tried a few with Mrs Velocipede but no interest) -

This has to be the Best Buy on here in years - good luck selling 👍

Thanks, much appreciated.
It's a real beauty and needs a good home. A proper collectors item I think too.
I'll give it another few days on here at £480 before going down another route at a higher price.

It's currently in Norwich, but I can meet at Harlow for no cost, or deliver in East London for £30 next time I'm down.
I'd prefer a paypal £40 deposit to drive and meet you , and the rest on collection/delivery please.

You should pick up an E-bike box and offer shipping, way to cheap!!

Cheers. Yeah, good point. Shipping opens up interest from further afield doesn't it.

I've discounted as far as I want to go for an easy sale, so shipping would have to add £100.
Sorting a box and packing safely could take me 3h, and could cost £40 to send insured, so I'd have to charge more for it.

Hi, if you’ve still got the tandem I’m very interested. I’m in the US, I have a non tandem curved tube and just love them, been looking for a tandem for my wife and I to ride. Would you be willing to box it up to ship? I’d be happy to cover the costs of course. Shinyplanes@gmail.com is my email, shoot me a message if you get this, thanks!

-Taurus

Hi, I think it would take some serious packaging and time to protect this during air freight. The shipping costs would be huge too I imagine? Plus insurance?
I imagine we'd have to make a custom box as a cardboard thing wouldn't really cut it, I don't think.
If time, materials, shipping and all risk is covered, I'd be really happy to send it to an enthusiastic owner, I'd like it to go to a good home. But I really don't fancy the risk of it getting damaged, disputes with insurance companies, it'll take up so much time and stress

... I don't know is my honest answer.
You can send me a direct message and we can discuss further :)
Thanks

Bump to £470
I paid £650 for it on the forum with the hope it would fit. Gutted that it doesn't.

The brooks saddle on the front is now gone though, a friend needed it.

The first Jack Taylor tandem on record in the original paint and with curved seat tube. It's a beauty, buy buy buy.
Otherwise I'll end up using the wheels and splitting it all.

I’m still interested if we can figure out how to ship it!! :)

Thanks. Sorry, it's just too risky to ship I think - unless we make a wooden box and send it fully insured - very expensive - could be £250 or more?
I've lost out on valuable items getting damaged before when going abroad, it's rare to get a payout so I'm extra paranoid.

I’d be happy to pay the costs to box it properly. I’ve been looking for this exact bike for over 10 years now with 0 luck here in the states. Whatever it costs to get it here safely is 100% okay with me. I’ve lost out on shipping stuff over the years as well, so I know how you feel about the risk. This is a dream bike for me, it would have an absolutely loving and caring home with me and would get enjoyed often. I did ship one of my penny farthings from overseas a few years ago and the Woden box did the trick.

Ok thanks. I'll send you a PM now.