When we bought our tandem, we looked at a Santana Arriva and a Co Motion Primera. The salesman described them as a BMW vs a Mercedes. We liked them both but bought the Santana because we felt it was a little more comfortable. After learning more about tandems, I think it's more proper to describe the two bikes as a Honda Accord vs a Toyota Camry (with a good accelerator). Both are very good performers and very reliable. If you want a better (Beemer or Mercedes) bike you can spend big money and get a very high end competition level bike. Re the Cannondales, on paper they seem to be an excellent value. If you like the ride, it makes sense to go with it.