Originally Posted by
jeneralist
Yeah, this pretty much describes the situation. We were only in the bike shop to begin with because Phil wanted to bring his custom-made (although not custom made for him) bike that he had found on Ebay back to the place where it was "born."
We bought a new Co-Motion in part because they are built in Eugene Oregon and our daughter goes to school at OSU in Corvallis Oregon. Thus stopping off and taking a tour of the factory was "on the way" to visit. So yeah we can say we have been back to where it was born too
Very nice folks and impressive work done. I never would have guessed where some of the separate parts are in the frame if I had not seen how they are built. Lots of bike porn too: "here check out these really cool carbon tandem wheels!" We appeased ourselves with a pair of matching Co-Motion bike jerseys that day.
For my part I am not *entirely* a tandem convert. I do still enjoy my half bike a lot, probably more than the tandem. But I cannot ride with my wife that way, riding with my wife only happens on the tandem. And I have found the tandem to be a more physical ride than my half bike. And the tandem certainly fills the bill for being an attention getter (especially with a Gates carbon timing belt). So I can enjoy riding the tandem too, it is just a different riding experience that I have to go into with different expectations. Different social dynamics on both: the tandem tends to be a bit more relaxed and the half bike more aggressive. Like driving a European sedan versus driving a Corvette. Both can offer a fun driving experience but you cannot take another couple along in the Corvette.