Tandem Cycling - Test ride

We may be heading to Arizona next week to test ride a Davis Double tandem. I talked with Bob Davis today and he told me that he does not have a frame our size available for testing. We use and XL/MED Santana and it is a good fit for us. We are also testing the Calfee and the Beyond later on. Our question is: Will we be able to do a fair evaluation of he bike even if the fit is not ideal?

probably not. If you feel cramped and/or too stretched you may not be able to make good determination about ride and handling characteristsics.

Our question is: Will we be able to do a fair evaluation of he bike even if the fit is not ideal?

If the captain's compartment can't be configured to "closely approximate" an adequate riding position then you'll be hard pressed to come away with much more than a general "feel" for the weight and steering geometry. If the stoker's compartment isn't exact, probably not as big of a concern.

Depending what size Bob has available; a 'make-do' fit will give you a general feel of the bike. Check out his workmanship closely . . . this guy is good!
Have 9,000+ miles on one of his tandems (sorry size S/XS!). We've ridden as a duo for over 30 years and this is our 5th tandem (our 4th custom) and have ridden/tested 30 brands/models and are not easily impressed. However the Davis Double impressed both of us enough to order one . . . Rudy even got rid of his Merlin and is now riding a custom ariZona single.
Go in with an open mind; hope you can test ride one, even if the fit is not optimal.
And tell Bob we said 'Hi!'

Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

Did you have the test ride? Results?

We couldn't set up any test rides last year. There is a couple that owns a large Arizona here in California that we may be able to test in February. We called Calfee and the conatct person that Santana provided us with but we coulnd't set up anything. We will try again shortly.

Yesterday we test rode the Arizona Davis Double at Gold Country Cyclery up in Cameron near Sacramento. It was a short test but it included some very steep climbs. The bike is absolutely beautiful, light, laterally rigid, comfortable, fast, and handles very nicely. My wife really liked it and felt comfortable even without the suspension seat post that she is used to and even though the pedals were on phase and we switched to off phase a couple of months ago. It felt very awkward to stand together while climbing.

As a side note: Switching to off phase was a little unsettling at first but after a few outings we like it very much. We learned to stand together and can really climb a lot smoother than before: We are not looking back.

We tried to arrange for a test ride of the Calfee and the Santana with little luck so far. We are leaning toward an S&S frame and really like the idea of two smaller cases rather than one huge one. If we decide to go S&S the Santana and the Calfee will be out of our plans.

My wife's only concern is that the Arizona is "too nice and too fine" to be taken down to Mexico and being used on dirt and coble stone roads. She has a point....

Just curious why you say Santana is out of your plans if you go with S & S. While expensive, Santana does make a nicely coupled carbon frame.

Also, as for phase, I completely agree with you. After about 3 months of tandem riding, my wife and I went out of phase and it was a huge plus for us. I really like the smooth power delivery as opposed to peak power followed by a drop off through the pedal cycle.

Ira

Just curious why you say Santana is out of your plans if you go with S & S. While expensive, Santana does make a nicely coupled carbon frame.

Also, as for phase, I completely agree with you. After about 3 months of tandem riding, my wife and I went out of phase and it was a huge plus for us. I really like the smooth power delivery as opposed to peak power followed by a drop off through the pedal cycle.

Ira
Yes, the Santana, although is not a full carbon frame, would be one of our top choices, but the S&S beyond brakes into two large pieces and three tubes that require a large-heavy case. We like the idea of two smaller cases a lot better. The other reason you already mentioned, an S&S beyond would end up costing us about 3K more that the double davis. Although we have not tested the Calfee, it brakes similarly as the Santana and we have heard reports of lateral flexing on the frame.

My wife and I just got the Santana Niobium with S & S couplers. Our local shop (Bicycle Outfitter) not only assured me that the bike would fit in 2 soft backpack style cases, the shop actually insisted that we get this style of case rather than the Santana hard case as the shop has had much better luck with the soft cases purchased directly from S & S.

As with all Santana coupled bikes, ours splits into a front triangle, rear triangle, and 3 separate middle tubes. That break does not seem to preclude or interfere with the use of two cases rather than one. We are still waiting for the cases, so I have not tried packing the bike yet, but I trust that the shop knows what it is doing.

Ira

Cornucopia:

Glad you got to test ride one of the ariZona tandems; ride/workmanship is impeccable and price is quite competitive. The feather-weight/stiffness certainly helps when climbing! The comfort level of full carbon (as expressed by your stoker: no shock seatpost!) is to be appreciated.
The 2-case S&S scenario is legal size for the airlines; the oversize one-case *could* co$t you extra when flying if you get a stickler of a baggage checker.
Taking it to Mexico? Gettin' it dirty? Hey, no matter what you decide to buy, it is meant to be ridden!
As for riding 90 degrees-out-of-phase (OOP) . . . been doing it for over 200 thousand miles (yeh, we like it!).
Glad you two enjoyed the test ride!

Pedal on TWOgewthert!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

How about a report when you get those cases? You are getting the S&S ones, right? I've been interested in a Niobium with S&S.

How about a report when you get those cases? You are getting the S&S ones, right? I've been interested in a Niobium with S&S.

I'll be happy to post a report. I am getting the S & S cases with the S & S frame tube covering material and various other packing aids. I hope to have the cases later this week and perhaps practice packing this weekend.

Ira