[simsi]

I'm trying to convince my wife that we should buy a Bike Friday tandem now, while the NZ/US $ exchange rate is so favorable for us (even though we really won't need a second tandem for a couple of years). I'm sold and, despite trying, have had no bad comments about Bike Fridays. It seems that it will do everything we want; pack up for travelling, accommodate our children as they grow, allow me or my wife to captain, deal with the terrain that we want to ride on.

I think the only thing I have found that would be a con is the small wheels on trails, giving a bit of a rough ride (although our current tandem is aluminium and the BF steel will give a different ride feel anyway). Is there anything else I should be aware of with BF tandems? Also, does anyone have any practical experience with SRAM dual drive; it seems like a good solution, but what are the downsides?

Cheers

Ian

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[zonatandem]

A third brake may be necessary for some of the descents in parts of NZ depending on the heat load on the small wheels. Fatter tires will take care of riding on trails.
Wait a while as he US $ will be slipping some more this year . . .
Have ridden a few Fridays, although not extensively. Good value for the money and riding with family/kids.
Rudyand Kay/zonatandem

[Retro Grouch]

I've got some personal friends who have owned a variety of Bike Friday's single, tandem and triple. Generally speaking, I'd assume that as repeat buyers they have been satisfied overall.

A year or so ago, as their son was growing bigger and heavier, they bought a Santana Cabriolet. After using it for awhile their comment to me was "It's nice to have a bike that doesn't need to be fixed or worked on every time we ride."

[simsi]

A third brake may be necessary for some of the descents in parts of NZ depending on the heat load on the small wheels. Fatter tires will take care of riding on trails.
Wait a while as he US $ will be slipping some more this year . . .
Have ridden a few Fridays, although not extensively. Good value for the money and riding with family/kids.
Rudyand Kay/zonatandem

Yep, the Arai drum brake gets a good workout here on our present tandem and is an essential upgrade as far as I'm concerned.

While I dream about the Santani Cabriolet, Retro Grouch mentions, the pricing is a bit steep for us. The BF does seem like good value for money.

Ian

[mrfish]

Google Rob English and email him. He has a nice website, a titanium Bike Friday tandem and works at Bike Friday as a product designer. He is a mine of useful information on bikes.

[merlinextraligh]

we had a Bike Friday Tandem Traveler XL II. Overal, I would say were very satisfied. Used the bike for 8 years, and sold it for close to what we paid for it.

The big advantage is all the flexibility in sizing, and the ability to pack it for traveling.

Downsides; 1) we found it a bit flexible with 2 adult riders really getting after it,
2) it was a fair amount of work to break down and pack. At least as much, if not more than a conventional tandem with S&S couplers.

For the purposes you've identified I think it's a good choice. However realize there are some trade offs.

[zonatandem]

A Co-Motion Periscope may be another good option, with full size wheels, 700c or 26-inch.
A bit more pricey than the cheapest stock Friday; however, when you start adding options to a Friday, it can come up to the same price point very quickly
Have ridden several Pericsopes . . . very good/adaptable full size tandems.
Just our opinion/experience.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

[bikeriderdave]

Also, does anyone have any practical experience with SRAM dual drive; it seems like a good solution, but what are the downsides?


The dual drive works fine. My family has ridden a Bike Friday triple for six seasons, and the downsides are not really significant for us. DD is supposedly less efficient than a triple crank, but we haven't noticed. The hub isn't quick release, but we just pack the (provided) wrench. And the triple jumps and range are fixed, but they seem to be fine the way they are. We've used the original SRAM twist-grip gear changer and Shimano STI "brifters." Both worked well, though we prefer the ability to shift while standing with STI.

We're moving on/up to a Co-Motion Periscope triple this year (we never used the travel-ability of the BF), but will remember our Bike Friday fondly.

Regards,

Dave

[simsi]

Thanks for all your comments.

The things that appealed to me were the flexibility in sizing. I would like for myself or my wife to be able to captain without too many changes (BF suggest a change in handlebar stem to change the reach). It's most likely that my son will be stoker, so we need to accommodate his growth. So, maybe we won't notice the flexibility mentioned with two adults riding.

The travelling option appeals. I've read elsewhere that the packing isn't trivial, but it's not intended to be a quick fold for the bus trip home.

Having priced a BF I still come up a good $1500 cheaper than the Periscope with all the options I would want, although the Periscope does look like a nice machine. It's interesting that the BFs have good reslae value too.

Cheers

Ian

[ftsoft]

I'm trying to convince my wife that we should buy a Bike Friday tandem now, while the NZ/US $ exchange rate is so favorable for us (even though we really won't need a second tandem for a couple of years). I'm sold and, despite trying, have had no bad comments about Bike Fridays. It seems that it will do everything we want; pack up for travelling, accommodate our children as they grow, allow me or my wife to captain, deal with the terrain that we want to ride on.

I think the only thing I have found that would be a con is the small wheels on trails, giving a bit of a rough ride (although our current tandem is aluminium and the BF steel will give a different ride feel anyway). Is there anything else I should be aware of with BF tandems? Also, does anyone have any practical experience with SRAM dual drive; it seems like a good solution, but what are the downsides?

Cheers

Ian

We rode one for about 75 miles at Hellweek 2 years ago. It was ok, but not great. Putting it together was very time consuming and frustrating, although I assume that you would get a lot better at this as you went. The shifting was problematic, although again I assume that you would learn how to deal with this in setup. Not a great experience, I wouldn't buy one. but not too bad either. For reference we ride a Como Speedster and rode an old Motobecane for many many years.

Frank

[merlinextraligh]

The shifting was problematic, although again I assume that you would learn how to deal with this in setup.

Frank
You do have to get it set up right to get it to shift well.

The legth of the frame will actually vary slightly each time you reassemble it. You can actually fine tune how the shifting hits by adjussting the frame. Bit of a learning curve.

[Frida1]

My partner and I have ridden a Tandem Tuesday for about 10 years. It does take 1.5-2 hours to set up. We've had very few problems with gearing, or maintenance. We also often use the "quick-fold" option and can fit it into my Subaru legacy that way. It takes less than 5 minutes to make it into a pretzel.

We had suspension seatposts and wider tires put on for a trip over part of the Continental Divide trail. It did fine in sand and gravel.

We also have options to change out so either of us can captain.

We've taken the Tuesday via airplane from the Pacific Northwest to Cuba, Scotland, Ireland, France, Nova Scotia, Alaska, Arizona/New Mexico. In Cuba we used the quickfold, hitchhiked, and the Tuesday rode in a Russian dump truck, a Cuban cargo truck with pigs, a mail truck and a small car.

We've toured using the stackable trailer, and also using a BOB trailer, or panniers.

On one tour we crossed the Continental Divide 7 times, and our fastest speed on a descent has been 58 mph.

So far the Tuesday's worked for us!

[simsi]

Thanks for all your replies. The news is that I am in the process of ordering one, so there will be another bike in the garage before too long.

Ian

[wtandem]

I had a Tandem Tuesday for about 5 years. It was a nice bike, especially for riding with a small kid. I rode it both with my son and my wife. I did think it slower than my '88 Santana Soverign. I did like the 3-speed rear hub. After my son got older, I sold the Tuesday and the Santana and bought a Calfee. One of my tests for buying the Calfee, was riding with the local club on the LBS's Calfee. There was a hill we would always get dropped on and could stay up with on the Calfee. I do think that it takes about the same amount of time to assemble the Tuesday when it is completely broken down for travel as an S&S coupled Tandem. Periscopes were not out when I bought the Tuesday. I would take a closer look at one of those now if I had small children.