Tandem Cycling - Our New CoMotion Machiato

We are very much in love with our new bike. Took delivery about 6 weeks and 400 miles ago and believe we have it pretty well sorted out. We traded in our 10 year old Santana Arriva. We realized about a 10% speed boost, most noticeable starting out and climbing. The bike flies and handles more like a single. Ride is a little firmer, but not punishing, even without a suspension seat post. Dura Ace shifting is slicker than the old bike ever was. Road brakes work fine for our Midwest cycling, although stopping effort is higher. Apparently, you can really get along OK without a lateral tube. Never weighed it, but believe it's easily 10-12 lbs lighter than our Santana.
Thanks to all who responded to my inquiries when we were "shopping". I really don't think I would have had the nerve to buy this custom bike without the thoughtful, positive feedback from others on the Forum.
Enjoy the pix attached.

Zoom, Zoom..... :thumb:

Sweet Ride!

Nice bike. Just curious what your team weight is?

Pretty, I like the fade paint.

Can you post bigger pictures?

Nice bike. Just curious what your team weight is?

Since I think I know where you're headed, don't forget to factor in the following details revealed during their research on Macchiato vs. Robusta in previous threads....



Post #1 (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=6521441&postcount=28): We are serious, but strictly recreational (we do not race) riders.

Post #2 (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=6528291&highlight=#post6528291): We are a fit, serious recreational tandem team, both in our 60s.

That is one pretty bike. I want one.

Since I think I know where you're headed, don't forget to factor in the following details revealed during their research on Macchiato vs. Robusta in previous threads....



Post #1 (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=6521441&postcount=28): We are serious, but strictly recreational (we do not race) riders.

Post #2 (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=6528291&highlight=#post6528291): We are a fit, serious recreational tandem team, both in our 60s.

Yeah, I know, the Weight Weenie in me still laments not getting not getting the Macchiato. However, for us, given our riding style,and team weight, the Robusta was the rational choice.

It appears CoMo is still supplying Gossamer cranks. Your tire/stoker seat tube clearance
seems a bit more than on ours. Ours is ~6mm tread to seat tube and ~4mm tread to FD
clamp. The Gossamers are getting a little beat up looking after 3400mi in the past year.
We are on our 3d rear tire (Michelin Pro2), the second replaced suddenly when a bald
patch appeared in a very localized area on the tread-we didn't recall skidding or brake lock
up. First tire lasted about 1800mi with our 370 team wgt. Careful with the paint, it is soft.
Ditto the tubing, it is THIN.

Your tire/stoker seat tube clearance seems a bit more than on ours.


Agreed... They look to be the same 16.5" length as the stays used on the Robusta vs. the ultra-tight (~16.1") tolerances I've seen on the photos of your team's Machiatto and the few others I've seen.

The Gossamers are getting a little beat up looking after 3400mi in the past year.


This is one of the things that makes me reluctant to move away from the daVinci cranks we've used for the past 10 years on all of our tandems. Black anodized daVinci cranks or even the carbon cranks from Martec or FSA would have a nice stealthy look vs. the very blingy-looking polished daVincis; however, when I consider what those other finishes would look like after overshifting the big chain ring or how Debbie's propensity to ride heels-in leaving scuff and wear marks on both the rear cranks I simply find the smart move is to stick with what has served us so well.

Our Gossamers are showing a few scuffs already, but I'm not terribly concerned about the cosmetic aspect. I looked into buying the FSA Carbon cranks aftermarket. However, the published weights are actually higher for the carbon, than the Gossamers, so I decided I wouldn't be accomplishing much.

However, the published weights are actually higher for the carbon, than the Gossamers...

Just for the record, and based on actual weights from bike geeks with scales at the ready:


1904 grams for FSA Carbon SL-K MegaExo (175/170) @ MSRP of $760.00 (but usually sell for less)

1822 grams for daVinci with 108mm & 111mm Phil Wood JIS Stainless BB's & steel cups (170/170) @ MSRP of $838

1818 grams for FSA Gossamer MegaExo (175/170) @ MSRP of $359 (Great value) or $275 for ISIS (Insane value) at WebCyclery.

1776 grams for daVinci with 108mm & 111mm Phil Wood JIS Stainless BB's & alloy cups (170/170) @ MSRP of $850

1637 grams for daVinci with 108mm & 111mm Phil Wood JIS Ti-Mag BB's & alloy cups (170/170) @ MSRP of $1,118

Of course, I'm not sure if FSA ever did produce any SL-K carbon tandem cranks in 2008, which is why Gossamer continues to be about the best of the lot. Calfee seems to be holding onto their new Martec / Calfee branded ISIS carbon cranks for OEM use given the FSA shortage and lack of other suitable substitutes. I'd include Santana's Martec cranks in here as well, but I don't have a clue what they weigh. I've heard they're on par with the FSA cranks, depending on which bottom bracket is spec'd. TruVative also has a set of tandem cranks on the market that are similar to the Gossamers using the GigaPipe BB, but not necessarily with the same quality finish or fairly light weight.

Our team weight is around 335 lbs. I did have an hour long talk with the folks at CoMotion which included warnings against buying the bike if team wight was over 350 lbs. They described the Machiatto as a racing bike that may not be appropriate for our recreational use. So far, I disagree. The bike handles like my single bike. The ride is fairly comfortable. The very light weight and stiff, efficient frame give us faster acceleration and climbing ability. If it proves itself reliable, I can't see any downsides.
If you look at price/performance, the Machiatto is a steal. At a list price of $8000, it's thousands less than the lightest Santana's while weighing several pounds less. Getting actual weights from Santana was not easy, requiring several calls until I found someone who would provide that info. That price includes everything except the spectacular fade paint job ($100). We asked for a "long fade" since the two colors are quite different (dark green and champagne). We love the effect. CoMo really got us exactly what we hoped for.
We have tons of pix, but I have to take some that fit within the 100KB spec for the Forum. I'll take some more soon.

We have tons of pix, but I have to take some that fit within the 100KB spec for the Forum. I'll take some more soon.

Barry, you disappoint me! :cry:
Sign up for a free account at Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa or any number of sites that offer free picture hosting. The upload it to them. At that point all you need to do is use the IMG tags and point to the correct URL and you picture will appear in your post. No 100kb limit, no small pictures. for example to display the following picture:

http://www.ruesports.com/images/fullsize/tandem_lighting.jpg

You would use the following command:
|IMG|http://www.ruesports.com/images/fullsize/tandem_lighting.jpg|/IMG|
of course replacing the |'s with square brackets. Make sure the url is pointed at your pictures and that you are allowed to hotlink to them (most sites will allow this, but a few don't).

...No 100kb limit, no small pictures. for example to display the following picture:...

I would just point out that 100kb does not necessarily mean "small." The photo just posted of the Ruegamer is just 57kb. I think it is nice to compress photos somewhat before linking them and I believe most of the photo sites do compress them although the users themselves may not know they are doing that. If everyone posted their multi-megabyte files as they came out of the camera we would all notice the slowness of response and have to scroll around the screen to see the entire giant image.

I do like the Bike Forums in-house method that includes the thumbnails but it does mean one has to log on to see them but that doesn't bother me.

Anyway - I like the photos in general so however people get them up here is OK with me.

Bloomington, IN

Normally I use Photobucket, it has several features that are good for forum use. One is that it can automagically generate the forum code and when you click on the code it will copy it to the clipboard so you can paste it in your message. The other feature I like is that it can generate forum code to display clickable thumbnails, so you see the smaller version within the post and click on it to see only the full resolution pictures you want to see, example:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/bhmmrtn/Bicycles/Cannondale/th_DSCN2295.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/bhmmrtn/Bicycles/Cannondale/DSCN2295.jpg)http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/bhmmrtn/Bicycles/Cannondale/th_DSCN2294.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/bhmmrtn/Bicycles/Cannondale/DSCN2294.jpg)
The advantage to posting this way, is that even non-resgistered users can see the photos and your response time is faster since the images are smaller.

With regard to the 100kb limit, it's either size or resolution, pick one. This way you can have both.

By the way, if you double click the original images I posted, you can see much larger versions. I'll try uploading some larger files to Flickr as a vehicle for compressing them. I've been hoping to figure out a simpler way to compress image files (mostly to attach them to e-mails) and was wondering if anyone has an approach that doesn't necessitate an upload. Any ideas?
We have not had any heel strike issues or water bottle access problems with the Machiatto. The cranks do seem to scuff up pretty easily, but been able to clean them up so far. Bike was delivered with Conti 4 Season 700x28 which were a bear to squeeze thru the Dura Ace brakes. Had the LBS exchange them for 25s - alleviated the issue a bit.
FD shifting is OK, but not great. Had some difficulty getting into the granny. A trip to the LBS seems to have solved that problem, but now shifting up to the big ring sometimes requires me to hold the shift for a few revolutions or the chain will drop back to the middle ring. This drop back seems to occur every so often if I forget to hold the lever long enough. We have some longer rides set for this weekend so I should be able to decide if the problem is worth watching the mechanic fiddle with the FD for another hour.

FD shifting is OK, but not great. Had some difficulty getting into the granny. A trip to the LBS seems to have solved that problem, but now shifting up to the big ring sometimes requires me to hold the shift for a few revolutions or the chain will drop back to the middle ring. This drop back seems to occur every so often if I forget to hold the lever long enough. .


Our front shifting experience has been similar on our Robusta (which is the same setup). Just wore out the KMC X 10 chain, and replaced it with Dura Ace. The front shifting seemed to improve with the new chain. Don't know if its the new chain, or just better adjusted after the new chain was installed, but the chain seemed to help.

By the way, if you double click the original images I posted, you can see much larger versions. I'll try uploading some larger files to Flickr as a vehicle for compressing them. I've been hoping to figure out a simpler way to compress image files (mostly to attach them to e-mails) and was wondering if anyone has an approach that doesn't necessitate an upload. Any ideas?
We have not had any heel strike issues or water bottle access problems with the Machiatto. The cranks do seem to scuff up pretty easily, but been able to clean them up so far. Bike was delivered with Conti 4 Season 700x28 which were a bear to squeeze thru the Dura Ace brakes. Had the LBS exchange them for 25s - alleviated the issue a bit.
FD shifting is OK, but not great. Had some difficulty getting into the granny. A trip to the LBS seems to have solved that problem, but now shifting up to the big ring sometimes requires me to hold the shift for a few revolutions or the chain will drop back to the middle ring. This drop back seems to occur every so often if I forget to hold the lever long enough. We have some longer rides set for this weekend so I should be able to decide if the problem is worth watching the mechanic fiddle with the FD for another hour.

Barry, much bigger if you click is a relative term. Not really much bigger nor any better detail when you attach, so for forums attaching is not the best solution. Microsoft has a free, yes I said free, tool that allows you to resize photos, here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloads/powertoys/Xppowertoys.mspx

Di2 front shifting could be the future answer to these types of shifting problems (had to mention it)

Di2 front shifting could be the future answer to these types of shifting problems (had to mention it)

Actually, I think the answer already exists; and its dura ace chainrings. I've never been a fan of FSA cranks/rings. Wish there was a Dura Ace triple tandem crankset.

Actually, I think the answer already exists; and its dura ace chainrings. I've never been a fan of FSA cranks/rings. Wish there was a Dura Ace triple tandem crankset.

You could save a few bucks and get Ultegra Triple chainrings or how about Specialties TA.

but now shifting up to the big ring sometimes requires me to hold the shift for a few revolutions or the chain will drop back to the middle ring. This drop back seems to occur every so often if I forget to hold the lever long enough.

I would think backing-out the in-line barrel adjuster at the downtube cable stop by about 1/2 a turn and doing the same to the upper limit adjusting screw on the front derailleur would fix that.

In fact, given you have the Gossamers, you might want to try a 1/4 turn first, so as not to create an accidental overshift condition.... that would definitely leave a mark that wouldn't buff-out. If that smaller adjustment does the trick you're golden. If not, give it another 1/4 turn.

Thanks for the tip on the Microsoft Power Tools Image Resizer. I can't imagine a more user friendly piece of software. Attached is courtesy of Image Resizer.