Tandem Cycling - Co-Motion Cappuccino test ride

Based on some advice in the last thread I started, we asked to test ride a Co-Motion Supremo. It felt very similar to the Trek T2000. Very wobbly on the back end at slower speeds and felt like I was driving a bus at higher speeds. i.e. I could feel all of my partners movements and I was always correcting for her movements. In a 20 minute test ride my pinkie on my left hand was completely numb, ring finger going numb and I had a horrible pain in my right elbow. All this was caused by my over-concentration while trying to keep control of the bike, watch for traffic blah blah blah... I figured I'll just have to get used to this and it will go away with time.

Got back to the LBS and my wife wanted to ride the Cappuccino. I had absolutely no interest in it. Even gave her the look that said so. Thought the softride beam looked gimicky. I also didn't care for the huge drop-off in the frame as I prefer the more traditional looking frames. She was insistent- as usual. Damn good thing we did. I finally know what people are talking about when they say Co-Mos handle extremly well. The Cappuccino handled and rode like a single bike to me. The tail wobble in the bike - gone. I could not feel any of her movements. The bike felt so comfortable and easy to handle my brain did not feel the need to 'Clamp down'. My hands were not numb, my elbow did not hurt and I wasn't tense at all on the bike. Stopping at stop signs was a breeze.

I have a couple of theories:
a) the soft ride beam was really helping to absorb all of her 'extraneous' movements and they were not being transfered to the bike where I would have to compensate. I even went over a couple of speedbumps and forgot to call them and she didn't care. Said it didn't jar her like the other bike.
b) the 'cappy' was too small for us and that helped with my control ?!?

They have a cappuccino coming in on Wednesday that is our size. We are taking it home for an extended test ride next weekend. We'll see if the infatuation with this one still holds on the larger frame. My wife absolutely loved the softride beam.

Now my only concern is - why aren't more people talking about these things? I searched the forums...two posts. That kind of scares me. Anyone have any Pro/Con about this bike? I think what we are dealing with here is a HEAVY team problem. My weight - 188, stoker weight - 195. This would account for the bad experience on the Supremo possibly. I had my daughter present and we test rode a Periscope to appease her. The bike was effortless (like the Cappy) with her on it. Then rode it with my wife and it rode similar to the Supremo, the Trek T2000 and a couple of sherman tanks I've driven. :p

Softride beams were very popular before there were any reliable suspension seatposts, noting that I believe Burley was the first to use the beams on a tandem and gained a lot of positive exposure when Lon Haldeman and Sue Nortangelo -- big time fans of Allsop beams -- began riding a Burley tandem fitted with a beam on PAC tours in the early 90's. From a builder's standpoint, the beams introduced a whole new raft of design, engonomic, support, and warranty issues and the aesthetics were also a bit of a challenge for some to get used to. However, the beams quickly developed a very loyal following and the other builders followed suit. Co-Motion remains the only builder who offers a stock production model with an Allsop beam; Burley stopped making them a few years back and Santana + others have only built them as custom orders. In fact, while Santana builds them, they spend a lot of time in the annual catazine outlining why they believe they are inferior... a common theme for many tandem design approaches embraced by competitors.

As for the handling differences, given that you found the handling to be similar between the Co-Motion Supremo and the Trek T2000, your stoker's movements must be dominating your attention and masking the differences. Moreover, had you ridden the Co-Motion before the Trek, I suspect you would have found the Trek to have "handled better" than the Co-Motion noting that what you learned on the Trek probably helped to improve both your and your wife's performance and control on the Co-Motion.

Now, as for the Cappuccino, you probably have a few things going for you that made the bike feel as though it handled better. First and foremost, your on-bike experience on the previous two test rides. I suspect if you went back to the Trek it would feel completely different than it did on the first test ride. Next, given that you were riding a Cappuccino that was a bit small and adding to that your wife's weight, it's very possible that her saddle position was lower than it was on the previous two tandems and it's quite possible that she was more prone to "rocking" on the higher saddles. Side-to-side movements by stokers who haven't had time to refine their riding position or pedal stroke are the primary source of steering issues on a tandem for new teams. As you also noted the softride beam's side-to-side flex may have also nulled out some of your stoker's movements. Your experience with the Periscope and your presumably smaller daughter tends to confirm the "stoker induced steering" as the source of your discomfort with the handling on the two rigid bikes.

I guess I'd make two recommendations before making a final selection:

First, make sure you check the manufacturers label on the underside of the Allsop beam and confirm that the 392 (model #530) beam is installed; I would suspect it is. The Model #530 (aka the 392) is the the stiffest model offered by Allsop and is what Co-Motion usually installs on stock Cappuccinos unless a customer specifies the more lively, lightweight model #510. Co-Motion will swap-out the model #530 for a model #530 at no charge. There is also a model #520 mid-weight model. I believe the lightweight model #510 is only approved for a maximum rider weight of 200 lbs, but my memory is a bit vague on weight limits for beams; however, it's included on the information label on the underside of the beam. You can read a bit more about the Allsop beams at Co-Motion's Web site: http://www.co-motion.com/SRbeamstrength.html

Second, you might want to try setting your wife's saddle a little lower on both the Trek T2000 and the Co-Motion Supremo than they were on the first test rides and give both bikes another short test to see how they handle now that you've come up the learning curve on tandem riding. If nothing else, after re-riding both rigid frames you can re-ride the Cappuccino to verify that it is still the cream of the crop.

Bottom Line: You're on the right track; hang in there

Your spouse is approaching the upper limits for weight on the Softride; and believe the beam, when she sits on it, gets down lower in actual height than the Supremo/Trek saddle set-up for her; more comfort for her, less problems for pilot.
The lighter/race oriented Supremo will also feel a bit quicker; perhaps your over-compensating/tenseness can be attributed to your hands/finger problems.
Proper sizing will of course also influence ability to handle the tandem.
Learn to relax; go with the flow. Avoid 'deathgrip' on the bars.
Different bikes for different folks! Just our opinion.

Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem