Tandem Cycling - Twoday

Okay,
Just got hooked.
Bought a used Duet, and love it. We rarely ride our singles now.
We are going to go to Italy for a bike tour honeymoon, and they discourage bringing our tandem, and it would be pricey.
I have found a used Bike Friday Twosday, with cases, trailer etc. for a reasonable price.
Has/does anyone ridden these, and what are the thoughts.
I have 2 Dahon Helios on my boat, and enjoy riding them, so the little wheels should not be a problem.
Thanks for the input, and you input while looking at the Duet.

If the "expensive" part you're talking about is flying it there:

We did Santana's Tuscany tour last year. We have a stowaway, and we were charged $110 on the way there (Delta? for the first leg, Alitalia to Rome for the second leg)...and 150 Euro on the way back (Alitalia out of Florence to Rome, then Continental? to the US). Many couples on our trip brought full sized tandems and were charged nothing, so it kind of depends on the mood of the person at the ticket counter.

At the time, the airlines were still allowing two bags per person (maybe they still are for international flights). I'm not sure how small/light a Bike Friday will pack down, but if your case is over 50 pounds, I would not count on it being free.

Anyway, enjoy your trip. I hope it includes Chianti; I have never bicycled anywhere better, and even with the weak dollar, you will be able to afford wine and coffee.

Actually, I think I can give you a fairly good perspective on this, having owned a Burley Duet, and a BikeFriday Tandem Traveler XL, and having travelled to Europe with the Duet.

Which Twosday are you looking at? The twosday sport with the 451 wheels would be somewhat comparable to our Tandem Traveler XL.

I thought our Bike Friday was a very nice bike. We bought it to ride with our daughter as she grew, and for travelling. We rode it a good amount for 7 years, and sold it used for what we paid for it new.

Riding it with my then 50-70 pound daughter, the bike was fine, and we did some serious rides with it (MS 150 a couple of times.)

Riding it with my 130 lb wife, as our travel tandem was more of a mixed bag. With an adult stoker on the back, it was definitely more flexy than the Burley. And while we did some serious riding with it, including some 50mph decents, my wife never felt comfortable on the back of the bike. How much of this was just a perecieved bias from the unique configuration, and how much was the result of the flex of the bike is debateable.

Also it was not that easy to travel with. Even after a fair amount of practice, it was a 45minute to 1 hour job both to assemble and dissamble. And due to a bit quircky design, you end up having to adjust the rear derailleur each time (through a process of lossening and moving the boom tube, whichis a bit odd.)

The Twosday's being folders may be easier to deal with.

We've travelled to Europe with the Burley. You get charged the same as a single bike, so about $110 each way these days.

Personally, I'd rather pay the $110 each way, than deal with the asembly disassembly of the BikeFriday.

And if I didn't want to travel with full size tandem, I'd get a conventional tandem with S&S couplers.

Thus we sold our Bike Friday, when our daughter was bike enough to ride on the back of the Burley.

Part of the answer for you depends on the type of riding you plan. Our Bike Friday Tandem Traveler XL was definitely up to long, fast rides, albeit with the flex issue.

I'm not sure the Twosday, particularly the version with the 406 wheels is quite as capable, but would certainly be adequate if you're not pushing it hard.

We had a Two's Day for several years. Took it to France and Ireland. It was easy to travel with in two suit cases. We were never charged extra by the airlines to carry it. After a little practice taking it apart and putting it back together was easy. Those were the plusses. On the down side, spokes often broke on the rear 406 wheel. No matter what the Bike Friday folks say, their bikes are definitely slower than large wheel bikes. The shifting was very tempermental and required constant adjustment. Overall, it was a bit like a swiss army knife. It was adequate in a lot of ways, but not really great at anything. We bought a Santana S&S coupled tandem and sold the Two's Day to a couple who approached us at a tandem rally while we were waiting for the Santana To arrive. The Santana has been our "go to" tandem for 7 years, although we've bought and sold a couple of other tandems during that time.

. . No matter what the Bike Friday folks say, their bikes are definitely slower than large wheel bikes.

I'm wondering how much of that is attributable to the 406 wheels, the tires available for 406 wheels, and the straight bars on yours in the picture?

I never felt ours with drop bars, 451 wheels racing tires (one of the advantages of the 451 wheels is the availability of high end tires), and STI, was slow. In fact it climbed better than the Burley because it was lighter.

A friend is looking for a used Two'sday. If you decide not to buy it,please send me an email at dfcas@yahoo.com.

As I understand the website, Twosdays are all custom, so sizing may be a problem.

thanks,dan