$200 Tandem

[Johnny Tsunami]

Hi,
I've been riding my road bikes for years and my wife gets jealous of my time. I've offered to get her a road bike, but she does not like the gears .....and she's slow. Real slow.

So, to insure marital bliss, I figured a tandem would be good.....but what if she does not like it?

I found a $200 Tandem on Craig's List........a Miyata DubloCross...more of a "mountain" type than a road one, perfect for level bike trails.

And yes, it was in ROUGH shape. So far I have replaced the chains, rear deraileur, brakes, tires, all the cables, & seats. The bike was not used for many years, but it was strored under a tarp in someone's backyard.

It will be another week or so before I get it in ridable shape - but the frame & wheels were in good shape so I figured it was worth the $200.

So far I have about $400 into it, between the original cost and the associated parts.

[yellowjeep]

nice where are the pictures?

I am keeping an eye out for something like this for the girlfriend and me to cruise around on

[zonatandem]

You mean Miyata DupliCross or the Dutch Koga-Miyata?
Duplicross (1993 model) sold for around $1,500 new. The Koga Miyata about 3x that price.

[whiterussian]

pics please, i have been looking to get a tandem for me and my gf

[Retro Grouch]

Sounds like our first tandem. By the time that I had made it rideable I had about $70.00 in it but that took a genuine miracle. That was in 1976. We've been riding tandems every since.

[mrfish]

I'm sure your wife is slooow at the moment, but get her into riding regularly and she will probably make quick progress, either on a tandem or single bike.

My wife started by coming out on a university club saturday easy road ride on an MTB with knobbly tyres, mudguard and d-lock wearing trainers, jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt. My friend Steve had to split off to accompany her and took 3 1/2 hours to do a loop that most do in <1 hour.

After quite a lot of training and 3 years she won the UK student pursuit championships, and competed in road races, track and time trials, winning a lot more than I ever managed.

We still have laughs with Steve about that ride. He normally maintains that it nearly drove him to give up cycling and walk home/ contemplate killing himself, depending on how much he's had to drink.

[zonatandem]

That $200 tandem is now a $400 tandem . . . still a great price.

[Johnny Tsunami]

I'll get you some pictures this week.....now that I finally got it out on the road.
I still need to adjust the brakes & gears - and new pedals would be nice.