Little-Acorn
Well, when it rains, it pours. Two days after getting my Schwinn Twinn Sport 10sp tandem, a guy called back on an ad I had called, saying he still had his Fiore tandem. Wasn't in good shape, needed work (understatement!), but VERY low price. I wound up grabbing it, ridiculous front handlebars, cheap ratcage pedals, 40# tires, lack of a front brake cable, and plentiful chain rust and all.
It's a seven-speed, mens-front/ladys-rear seat, 26" wheels. Rear cluster might be a 14-30 or 14-32, seems larger than normal, haven't counted it yet. Frame seems to be straight enough, wheels turn well, it shifts mostly. This is after several hours of preliminary work, pitched the front handlebar (a semicircle of electrical contractor tubing painted black, what was someone thinking) and replaced it with the non-original "up" handlebar that came on the Schwinn, put on a front brake cable, dumped a ton of Liquid Wrench on the chain and most reddish-brown areas, lots of WD-40 on most other areas to clean out the gunk, pumped up the tires (rear tire is a 40#er). For now I'm ignoring the broken-off kickstand, it's a bolt-on, shouldn't be hard to deal with, though a tandem without a kickstand is pretty awkward to work on in a driveway. I can't offhand imagine how one would break off a kickstand. Both seat posts and stoker stem are solid rust, haven't gotten them to move yet, fortunately the captain's seat was about right for me anyway. Wound up riding it around for several test runs, runs easily and straight, feels like a real bicycle!
Anybody know anything about Fiore (not Fiori) tandems? I could find very little info on the net. Obviously a low-end product, haven't weighed it yet but it's about the weight of the Schwinn which literature says is 52#. This one has been used, abused, and neglected, and still needs a lot more work before I can trust anyone I like on the back.
Maybe I'll start a tandem garden. They seem to be springing up all over.
It's a seven-speed, mens-front/ladys-rear seat, 26" wheels. Rear cluster might be a 14-30 or 14-32, seems larger than normal, haven't counted it yet. Frame seems to be straight enough, wheels turn well, it shifts mostly. This is after several hours of preliminary work, pitched the front handlebar (a semicircle of electrical contractor tubing painted black, what was someone thinking) and replaced it with the non-original "up" handlebar that came on the Schwinn, put on a front brake cable, dumped a ton of Liquid Wrench on the chain and most reddish-brown areas, lots of WD-40 on most other areas to clean out the gunk, pumped up the tires (rear tire is a 40#er). For now I'm ignoring the broken-off kickstand, it's a bolt-on, shouldn't be hard to deal with, though a tandem without a kickstand is pretty awkward to work on in a driveway. I can't offhand imagine how one would break off a kickstand. Both seat posts and stoker stem are solid rust, haven't gotten them to move yet, fortunately the captain's seat was about right for me anyway. Wound up riding it around for several test runs, runs easily and straight, feels like a real bicycle!
Anybody know anything about Fiore (not Fiori) tandems? I could find very little info on the net. Obviously a low-end product, haven't weighed it yet but it's about the weight of the Schwinn which literature says is 52#. This one has been used, abused, and neglected, and still needs a lot more work before I can trust anyone I like on the back.
Maybe I'll start a tandem garden. They seem to be springing up all over.