I am attempting to purchase my 1st tandem. Burley seems to be the best bang for buck. I found a shop with an 03 Burley Rivazza that has not been used. They were asking $2450 which seemed like a great deal with the XTR/ultegra setup. It was more bike than I had initially planned on buying. I wanted a bike to ride with my 6 year old daughter and a stoker kit was a must. I made it clear at the purchase. They said they had one in stock and would have the bike ready the next day.
I called the next day and they said they were having compatibility issues with the bottom bracket and the timing chains. They stated something about having 39 teeth on the timing chain and that the stoker kit had a 36 tooth chainring. They said that the bottom bracket was an octalink splined and that they were not sure they could get the parts to make it work. Now today they say they have another burley stoker kit ordered that would work. I see you can order a 40 tooth burley stoker kit. I am not convinced this will work and am not sure this shop knows what they are talking about.
I want the bike done in the next week or 10 days so I can ride a 100 miles before taking off for ragbrai. If not I will wait till next year to make a purchase. Can anyone let me know of this type of compatibility issues or if burley makes a 39 tooth stoker kit so we can pedal at the same cadence. I am getting worried that this shop is jerking me around.
The BikeForums Team
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unfortunately Burley said the stoker kit was backordered. When I told them that my bike shop told me that the part was already shipped they directed me back to the bike shop with anyquestions. I let the bike shop know that I am getting mixed info and that I was asking for my money back if the problem was not solved in the next 10 days.
How come a person can not order a burley stoker kit and have it shipped? All online shops state that they have an agreement with Burley that the kit is for store pick-up only yet they don't have them in stock at Burley either?
TandemGeek
How come a person can not order a burley stoker kit and have it shipped? All online shops state that they have an agreement with Burley that the kit is for store pick-up only yet they don't have them in stock at Burley either?
Not knowing who you're dealing with let me suggest that you contact either one or both of the following tandem speciality dealers, as they may have the answers to your questions as well as any needed parts:
- Mark Johnson at PrecisionTandems.com (MarkJ@PrecisionTandems.com)
- Mel Kornbluh at TandemsEast.com (tandemwiz@aol.com)
Burley's issues have been addressed in a few other threads; good values but right now things are not running as smoothly as the have in the past. Fingers crossed, they will pull their wheels out of the financial quagmire in the next several months, survive the lean-times of winter, and have their act polished up by next Spring.
Murrays
I want the bike done in the next week or 10 days so I can ride a 100 miles before taking off for ragbrai.
Having done a dozen RAGBRAI's, I have a simple rule; no fit changes to the bike in July. I once went to a bike shop for a fitting the week before RAGBRAI and ended up with knee pain 3 days in. Never again.
IMHO, starting the ride on a bike that you get today would be a disaster.
YMMV
-murray
ragbraiboy
Thanks for the advice about ragbrai. I am only planning on riding partial days with the tanden and my daughter and finishing the rest of the day on a rode bike or at the campground. But I agree. I should have had the tandem idea in the spring so I had time to deal with the issues. Glad to see my daughter has so much interest and didn't want to wait a year to give her the experience. I think she's hooked!
Murrays
I think she's hooked!
How old is your daughter? I bought a Co-Mo last year with the intent of putting my 5 yo daughter on the back for events like RAGBRAI sometime in the future. She really took to the trail-a-bike in the spring, but doesn’t want to get back on since she got cold on one ride.
I’ve heard that kids prefer to be “part of a team” on a tandem rather than feeling more like a passenger on a trail-a-bike so I think I’ll put on a stoker kit next spring.
I’m really looking forward to spending more time riding with my daughter rather than leaving her at home while I ride. Hopefully, she will enjoy it :)
-murray
ragbraiboy
She just turned 6 years old. She has been riding on a tag-a-long with me for the past 3 summers. We have done many rides of about 30 miles. She is always ready to go. We did one 1/2 day of Ragbrai last year and she loved it. Said she wants to do every day this year and full days at that. (I'm sure that is too much though) She loves to stop at every town. I think we will stick to the 1/2 days with my wife providing vehicle support. I've heard the tandem experience with the stoker kit is better than the tag-a-long. Being more efficient and more team oriented. I'm excited to find out.