Tandem Cycling - KHS Milano or Cannondale Road Tandem 3

So, I see a number of threads discussing various tandems as good starter bikes for couples looking to purchase a new tandem. We ride Treks at this time, I ride a 60cm Madone 5.2 and my wife rides a 1200 soon to be upgraded. I am 6' tall and she is 5'6 and our combined weight is around 400 pounds. We are pretty average riders and routinely do 50 plus mile rides on weekends and often 15 - 20 mile rides during the week.

We have looked for used bikes, but haven't found anything new enough to really interest us... or the sizes are wrong... or they want more than the bikes are worth. So since we are getting near the time that we need to be equiped for a 10 day ride into Canada with friends, we are about to purchase a new bike. These two bikes seem to be pretty equally equiped and close in price. We understand that we may ride this bike for a couple of years and decide to upgrade... if we really like tandem riding, but we would like to get deeper into the sport before we decide to spend the $4-7,000 that it would take to get a really good bike. Our friends have a Santana that converts to a triple, which kind of attracts us for a number of reasons.

From what I have been able to gather, these are both good starter bikes and are closely equipped... my only concern is that the KHS may be more flexible than the Cannondale.... any input? Is there something that I am missing in this analysis?

Seattle WA

We rode both when we were looking for a new Tandem. We found a great deal on 2yr old new Santana that the LBS had left over so we went with it.

But before we found that we had decided we liked the Cannoedale better than the KHS for us. It just seemed to ride better, or a bit stiffer I should say. We both agreed we liked the feel of the Cdale better. Both were great bikes for the $$$ and would say you could not go wrong with either. If one seem to fit you better than the other, that would be the deciding factor. Sounds like you are planning some long rides, make sure you get one that fits what ever brand you go with. Even and 10K bike that does not fit makes for a lousy ride.

The problem is actually finding bikes to test ride since no one in this area regularly brings in tandems for inventory. We do have a KHS coming in to a dealer this week, but it might be too small for us and I can't find a Cdale in town that is available for a test ride.... We are pretty average size so I would think we could but haven't yet.

If they do bring in bikes they bring in small ones since they claim that they can make a small bike ride big using extensions but they can't make a large bike small.... Not sure who would buy a new bike that is too small but I guess they know their business.

I'm 6' tall and my wife is 5'6.

V

Hi,

Our first attempt at tandeming was 3 years ago. At that time we bought a used Rolland tandem. It was a total failure. My wife just told me to forget about tandeming. Recently, I read an article about tandem and I lunch the idea that we should try it again. My wife agreed with a second chance. The day after, we were shopping another tandem. I found a used 2004 Cannondale road tandem with disk brake. What a difference, day and night. My wife really enjoyed the rides with this tandem. She feels comfortable. On my side, I can tell that this tandem hold the road very well. Last week-end we went downhill at 45-50 mph and I was feeling still safe. Going uphill, I was able to go as slow as 4mhp and the bike was still stable. For us the Cannondale was a very good choice. It is well equipped with Ultegra shifters, XT rear derailleur and 105 in front. It came with the Avid BB7 road disk brakes that have enough power to stop us quite fast. I had to change the length of my stem and I will probably replace the rear handlebar from the actual buckhorn to a road handlebar to give my wife more hand positions. I also replace the 2 seats to match what we have on our single road bikes. If you need more info, just let me know. BTW, I am 5'10" and my wife is 5'2" for a total weight of 290 lbs. Our bike is a Large/small. It is just OK for us. If you go with a Cannondale I think you may need a Large/Medium.

Michel

The problem is actually finding bikes to test ride since no one in this area regularly brings in tandems for inventory. We do have a KHS coming in to a dealer this week, but it might be too small for us and I can't find a Cdale in town that is available for a test ride.... We are pretty average size so I would think we could but haven't yet.

If they do bring in bikes they bring in small ones since they claim that they can make a small bike ride big using extensions but they can't make a large bike small.... Not sure who would buy a new bike that is too small but I guess they know their business.

I'm 6' tall and my wife is 5'6.

V

We had to drive 3 hrs the Dallas area to get out bike, or find some bikes to ride I should say and I am glad we did. I am 5’8 and my wife is 5’7. The med /small on the Cdale fit us fine, the medium on the KHS was a good fit, but the small on our Santana was the right fit on that bike for us, had I ordered a larger Santana, based on my experience on the Cdale or KHSI would have been disappointed

We had to drive 3 hrs the Dallas area to get out bike, or find some bikes to ride I should say and I am glad we did. I am 5’8 and my wife is 5’7. The med /small on the Cdale fit us fine, the medium on the KHS was a good fit, but the small on our Santana was the right fit on that bike for us, had I ordered a larger Santana, based on my experience on the Cdale or KHSI would have been disappointed


So when you rode the KHS vs. the Cdale did you notice much frame flex? My concern here is that our combined weight is nearly 400 pounds and we are pretty muscular. I don't want to create a control issue by having the frame flex with the KHS. On the other hand, our riding mates are very strong riders and they have a Santana tandem/triple that is somewhat flexible due to the couplers and it doesn't seem to bother them.

V

Personally, I'd lean toward the C'Dale. C'Dale's oversized aluminum construction works nicely to make a rigid tandem frame. And I think the CDale is a good enough frame that you could upgrade components down the road if you wanted to put a bit more money into it.

On the other hand, our riding mates are very strong riders and they have a Santana tandem/triple that is somewhat flexible due to the couplers and it doesn't seem to bother them.

V


Santanas are known for being less stiff than tandems made by other builders...and I would guess that triples are more flexible than doubles (but I'm just guessing, I've never ridden a triple); but S&S couplers are stronger than the frame they attach to, and tend to make the frame stiffer (than a non-coupled bike).

Our combined weight is between 380 and 425 ( most of it me ) depending on the time of year. I spent years as a power lifter, so I am a masher, I just don’t have a lot of fast twitch muscle in my legs, I need to feel a load on my legs to react. I am getting better, but I will never be able to spin comfortably at 80 or 90 rpms do we put a lot of stress, especially on hills. Luckily my wife is more of a masher as well so it works out ok, I replace chains more often than most. So yes, to answer your question the Cannondale had a lot less flex than the KHS for us. The Cannondale has a really beefy bottom tube compared to the KHS and we just felt it was stronger, stiffer, less flex when we craned down on it.

I must be honest……If your piece limit is in the $1500.00 do your self a favor and do not get on a Co Mo / Santana ect… had we not ridden out Santana, we would of went with the Cannondale. Our goal was to stay under 2 k on our first bike. We had the ability to spend more, I was just not going to do it, but we found this one, brand new 06 the marked it down from $4500.00 to eventually $3000.00( every man likes a good deal ) so I decided to take it for a spin, thinking my wife would not be able to tell any difference, plus she already told me she was not a fan of the color. After the short ride Michelle, my lovely stoker informed me this was the bike. Even though she did not like the color, she could tell the difference in the ride

Would we have been as happy with the Cdale had we not got on the Santana…..Yes, but I am sure if I have ridden one of the Ti bikes for 12k I would of notice even more difference. That why I didn’t even get on one, because I new I would not spend that much on our first bike, but no sense in wanting what I could not have. Ignorance is Bliss.

Good luck with whatever you decide, I know you will enjoy either one.

You can get a idea from the photo, we both rather large pistons, so that why the flex was important to us

Thanks for the input. Great photo! I wish I could ride both bikes, but I haven't been able to source a Cdale... I know there must be lots of them in this big city, but finding the peeps to let us take a look is another thing.

The KHS dealer has a "small" coming in on Wednesday. KHS comes in two sizes... the Cdale has a bit more variety. They have a small KHS to arrive but I am leery of buying a small one. I like to stretch out on a bike and there is no way I want to be cramped or change the steering by using extenders.

Then there is the issue of the Cdale not being very available to test ride... still looking for a dealer that might have one in stock either in Seattle or Portland.

V

I am 6'0", 205 lbs, my stoker wife is 5'6" and about 150 lbs and we purchased a cannondale Road 2 last December. We rented a Burley steel frame and we had so much fun that we took a chance and bought the C'dale. Ours is a Large/small and it fits us perfectly. My wife found the Cannondale more comfortable (better fit probably), and I found the selection of components a good bargain. This bike is very well built and a solid performer. i made a few changes such as changing the stoker handle bar with drop-bars and longer seat post and stem for me, due to my long arms and legs. We also added a stoker Thudbuster type seat post. Hope this helps

I know you want to buy a new one, but I just checked craigs list, there are a couple of nice bikes in your area. There is a Cdale but it does not have a picture, that Conotion speeder for $2100 looks like a steal. You could atleast get a change to ride these make sure you like the brand / size and then order one.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/search/bik?query=tandem&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max
http://portland.craigslist.org/search/bik?query=tandem&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max

Actually I wanted to find a used bike, and I wasn't finding much of interest in the Seattle area. As luck would have it I picked up a Cannondale up this morning for $900. It has hardly been ridden, has some nice amenities, and has been stored in the owner's garage for years. There are a few things I would probably change on it, for instance it doesn't have a drum brake and the tires are 700x35s (which may or may not be preferable, time will tell) ..... but if we decide we really need to add a drum one it can be added pretty cheaply. My original intent was to find something like this so that we can have one to ride occasionally and if we decide to ride tandem a lot we will figure out what we want and get another one. We usually ride our solo bikes so this is something that would be an occasional bike and we'l probably set it up for touring .... at least that is the plan at this point.

That Trek does look like a great deal, doesn't it!

Thanks for the help, I'll let you know how this turns out!

V