Tandem Cycling - Calfee Drops Tandem Frame Price... A Lot!

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TandemGeek
10-23-05, 06:14 PM
Anybody notice the new Calfee tandem prices?Down over a G for the new frame design.

dan

Yikes. I had expected the price to come down, but not that much?!

2005 Pricing...
Tetra Tandem $5,227 (frame only)
Custom Size Tetra, $5,727 (frame only)
S&S Tetra Tandem $7,747 (frame only)
Dragonfly Tandem, $6,900 (frame only)

2006 Pricing via the Web....
Tetra Tandem $3,995 (frame only)
Custom Size Tetra, $4,495 (frame only)
S&S Tetra Tandem $6,515 (frame only)
Dragonfly Tandem, $5,795 (frame only)

Since Arizona has been pegging it's carbon tandem frame prices to Calfee's, I wonder how Bob Davis will respond? While I thought it was a no-brainer before, this is just incredible... and incredibly tempting.

galen_52657
10-23-05, 07:21 PM
Think of all the folks who got nicked for a G.....
zonatandem
10-23-05, 09:28 PM
Talked with Craig at Interbike and saw/discussed the 'open frame' design.
He explained the reasons for lower price: Less tubing, less labor and the tubes are intermediate and high modulus mix. Frame weight was 7 lbs. If ordering with S&S there is less cost as there are less fittings needed with open frame design. The open frame has rider limit of 350 lbs.
The Dragonfly (with internal lateral) frameset weighs 6 lbs utilizing hi modulus carbon/boron tubes.
Bob Davis of ariZona Tandems has not lowered the price for his frameset but does include - at no extra $$ - the c/f fork + a fixed or adjustable carbon fiber stoker stem.
If you recall or knew the late Tom Bruni of Baltimore, he was a great builder/innovator and proponent of open frame/oversize tubing design for tandems. Imagine Tom is a-grinning about now and saying . . . "See, told you guys!"
BTW the Schwinn DuoSport in the 1980s also had an open frame/oversize tubing design, as did some others. While some of the open frame tandems of old were darn right whippy, the oversize tubing will do the trick.
This only makes carbon tandems more competitve. Remember riding our first ti tandem a few years back . . . only $13,000!

Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

TandemDoc
10-23-05, 10:16 PM
The new Dragonfly tandem on display at Interbike was built for us. We've had it for about a week and it is another step forward in composite tandems for Craig Calfee. While this is the third Calfee we've had as a demo , it is the first Dragonfly and it's under 28 pounds with pedals. It is rock solid and actually stiffer than the "old" tetra design we are very familiar with. We have a picture of the Dragonfly on our website. http://www.TandemCycleWorks.com