Tandem Cycling - We pimped our ride this week

Well we did the deed. We were riding with the group ride last weekend, talking with another tandem team about starting to test ride a few tandems, thinking about an upgrade in the spring. One stoker said why wait? "I know someone that has a tandem like ours (Co-Motion Roadster) they want to sell. A friend of the supposed seller overheard and said he didn't know he was selling his bike. The woman (sister to the aforementioned tandem) said he didn't know it yet but he would probably sell it seeing as how he bought it new a year ago and had ridden it less than 100 miles. Seems they weren't meant to be a tandem couple. His friend spoke with him and he called us on Monday. We rode it on Tuesday and Thursday and closed the deal on Friday. The bike is: 2006 Co-Motion Roadster custom frame but fits us perfectly, wound up carbon fork, thudbuster stoker post, Avid rear disc, Rolf vigor tandem wheels with a custom fade paint job. We have ridden it twice as far in 4 days as he rode it in a year.:eek: He just didn't like it. It was such a screaming deal too. One of those once in a lifetime opportunities. Red Rider is stoked:D:D because the bike fits her perfectly. Now we have a really nice Raleigh Coupe for sale. We will have to post it.

Here we are on yesterdays ride.:)
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w76/cgallagh/Chris_Deb_New_Tandem.jpg

Congrats on the new machine.

Care to share your impressions on how the Robusta compares to your Raleigh?

Felicitations on the new 2-seater! Roadster looks great and will be an eye-opener in many respects compared to the Coupe!
Bet you'll be getting some new jerseys to go with that blue/silver paint scheme!
Looks like like very happy/lucky tandem duo!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

Nice!

Sweet bike! Paint job is almost exactly the same as our 2006 Speedster, and some similar equipment. Hope to see you on the road someday -- maybe blasting down Pleasants Valley Road....

Team Macaulay

You didn't pimp your ride, you bought a pimped out ride!

You'll probably giggling with excitement every time you go out on it for the next month or two. Congrats.

Congrats on the new machine.

Care to share your impressions on how the Robusta compares to your Raleigh?

From the stoker's perspective: Smoother ride all the way around. Easier handling, much quicker to respond. Pedalling 22 mph on the Co-Mo requires much less effort than the same speed on the Coupe. I'm not sure of the weight difference -- maybe 6 lbs? It feels huge. And riding up some of these 10%+ hills is downright easy.

The shifting is smoother and quieter (gotta love Dura-Ace dérailleurs). My Thudbuster is much more comfortable than the suspension seatpost. The of the bike is much more to my liking -- I like getting into the drops (in this case, extending to the end of the handlebars) and really hammering away.

It's like going from a VW bug to a Porsche Carrera -- it's a performance machine and it loves to go fast.

We've ridden it 4 times and put 187 miles on it. Woof! :D

I'll let the Captain share his impressions.

Very Nice!!! and it's our size too :)

I'd be interested with the old Raleigh if you guys want to part with it.

lmk
-gas
Fremont, CA

congrats - nice bike! glad you got a good deal on it! have fun.

Hi C & D,
Thank you for the deal. Bike fits nicely for me and my stoker. I spent 3hours, 'til 3am, after we picked up the tandem, adjusting the fit and getting to know the bike. We took it out for a 20 mile ride in the afternoon and I nearly fell off the front. I got used to drop bars and when the speed picked up, I tried to go to the drop and the bar wasn't there :o Anyway, I tore up one of my road bikes and took the cockpit and dropped it into the tandem and all is swell.

Thanks again...
-gas
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1410/1010600146_dc7377da4c_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1322/1010313286_a24493ce0f_b.jpg

congrats on the new ride... pimped? I thought perhaps you bought a set of new brakes or something..

Nice upgrade... and it sounds like you have sold your other bike already...

enjoy
glenn

R,
We thought about you guys on the ride today and how we hammered out so many other long climbs on that Raleigh.

I am glad the bike found a nice home. Nice work. It really looks nice. We were reluctant to spend much money on upgrades being our intention was to trade up. The bike was a lot of fun for us and we learned a lot on it. Glad you like it.

Thank you for the thoughts C.
I think I've dialed in the fit on the Raleigh. The 2 engines are running smoothly even on climbs. I probably overdid the granny by changing it to a 24 but its nice to know its there. We were okay with the climbs on the 2007 Tour de Peninsula with the 42/27 with some 24/24. Next on the agenda is to get the stoker phsyched up that flipping the moustache bar is better so she can get some aero position. And of course, get her comfort level up with clip in pedals.

Pic after the TdP ride.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1138/1023235534_1405614e1a_o.jpg

Congrats, the Roadster frame is the same as the Robusta except its fitted for V brakes instead of duel pivot road brakes. I believe the Roadster has a few more cable guides added to the frame for a drum brake if needed. The Robusta frame has only the cable guides needed and comes with the Carbon fiber FSA cranks. The Robusta and the Roadster tandem frames are awsome and the performance gains are great, you will love it.

Below are some pics of our 2006 Robusta, plus the pics Co Motion sent me right after it came out of the paint booth plus the pics after the clear coat and lettering was done. Our paint job is in there custom flame paint gallery on there web page. Co Motion makes a great tandem, our 2002 Co Motion Supremo had the same fade paint job as your Roadster but the colors where flipped, blue on top then a fade into silver.

I think your fade paint job just plain looks great. It's one of the best looking Roadsters that I have seen to date.

If you get a chance take a tour of Co Motions facility, we have been there three diffrent times and met everyone, they are a great bunch of guys, I met everyone involved personally in building our tandem.

Take Care,:)
Bill G