I'm considering a kidback tandem to ride with my kids. There seem to be two basic approaches. One is to use a tandem that is sized for an adult, and then add a "child stoker kit" that adds a new bottom bracket higher up that effectively raises shortens the seat tube. The other solution is to get a tandem with a short rear seat tube. It seems to me that the short rear seat is a better solution, the kid is lower to the ground and can get on and off by himself, but there don't seem to be too many tandems made that way. The closest I've been able to find is the Burley Zydeco with a 15.5 inch rear seat tube. Does anyone have any insight into the relative merits of the two approaches?
Also, I'm intrigued by a bike I found on Ebay, a Schwinn Twinn Sport that looks to be from the 80's where the frame was rebuilt to shorten the seat tube to 14". Here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7156937886
Any thoughts on whether this is worth considering?
Thanks.
phinney
05-22-05, 05:19 AM
Yikes! Looks more like the 70's. Did you catch the hose clamps holding on the bottle cages? Same side drive with idler gear? Or the non-matching paint of the "very high quality work"?
Looks like it was a women's frame in the back to start with. Saw off the seat tube, crudely bend down the upper stays, re-weld (it's steel), can of spray paint (funny a Schwinn shop wouldn't have the right color). Pick it up at a garage sale (where it's been sitting for maybe 20 years, looks like it was a little damp in there) for $10 and put it on Ebay for $200, $375 buy it now, $80 shipping. Gotta love Ebay.
This type of mod could be easily made to any steel tandem with a women's stoker layout. It might be worth doing it yourself and starting with something a couple of decades newer. You could probably find one locally. Use some of the money left over to get real crank arm shorteners.
Just my opinions for what they're worth. Maybe I've just seen too many scams on Ebay lately.
DocF
05-22-05, 07:37 AM
Well, it is a tandem sport, not a twinn. It also is pretty tired, if the photos are any indication. The first, and most obvious, question is how much do you want to spend? Second, do you intend to use the bike for just very casual riding around the neighborhood or do you intend to do something more serious, like rides of 10, 20 or 100 miles?
If it was me, I would look for a good tandem with a kid stoker kit or a Bike Friday tandem which will fit almost anyone.
Why don't you go over to Mt Airy Bicycle and get some very professional advice?
Good luck,
Doc
NJWheelBuilder
05-23-05, 06:02 AM
How old is the child? I have a KHS Milano (inexpensive ~$1200). My younger son has been able to ride it (with crank arms shorteners from www.tandemseast.com) since he was 6.
DCCommuter
05-23-05, 09:01 AM
The Milano looks interesting.
They (twins) will be five next week, but they're small for their age, 42" tall and an inseam of 18.5". It looks like the KHS Milano has a seat tube of 16", which is probably too big for them. Maybe in another couple of years.
Retro Grouch
05-23-05, 06:58 PM
The size of the bike frame is never going to change but the kid will keep getting bigger.
One of the nice things about a kidback conversion is you can gradually fiddle with the seatpost height and the position of the bottom bracket until, at some point, the kid is ready to use the standard crankset.
Another issue that you haven't addressed is the reach to the stoker handlebar. I recently set one up for my granddaughter using a long reach stoker stem from Burley along with a Nitto Technomic long shank road stem. It's still a little farther away from her than I would like but she seems to be happy with it.
frameteam2003
05-24-05, 08:37 PM
This might help:
http://greatadventuresports.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=125&SKU=CR8950
also several other for other tube diam.---sam