Tandem Cycling - LBS Blues

Took the tandem into the shop (50 miles from our house) for a tuneup on Friday. I do most work myself, but I had a few issues I could not fix--at least not without buying some expensive tools.

1) Cassette: 3 cogs are worn enough to make the chain skip. I had already bought a replacement (ebay "bargain"). I have a chain whip and a cassette remover, but the biggest wrench I own is an 8" Crescent. I could not get the thing to budge. I would have gone out to buy a long 1" wrench, but since the bike also needed #2 and #3 below...

2) Headset: Steering has been indexy for over a year. I took the headset apart a few months ago and re-greased everything...I saw no evidence of pitting. Things seemed better for a while, but that may have been because I had not tightened it enough. I replaced the bearings/retainers last week, at which point I noticed that the fork crown race had some pits; not having either a fork crown race remover or a replacement fork crown race made this seem like a good job for the shop.

3) Rear wheel: The spokes on one side of the wheel sound a little looser than the other. Both wheels appear to be true at this point. I do have a wheel truing stand, but I need to get some practice on cheaper wheels first. Also: I do not have a tension meter, and I have been asked more than once if I'm tone deaf. This also seemed like a good job for the bike shop.

Estimate on Friday for the tuneup (which included fixing all 3 problems above): $120
Estimated date of completion: Saturday (when I inquired via email); Tuesday (when we actually brought the bike to the store).

Call #1 came on Saturday: "Stoker's bottom bracket needs replacing"...I had forgotten about this; it felt very jerky with the cranks off, but with them on (without the chain), it was not noticeable. "The front is better, but could use replacement as well". Estimate: $50 each (for Shimano 105). I am almost certain it's going to turn into $80 each.

I'm still waiting for call #2: "You need a new headset". I'm debating between going with another Tange ($40) or upgrading to a Chris King ($120).

So far, I'm up to $220 (which will really be $280 unless they give me a rocking good deal on the bottom brackets). Once again, I am reminded that this is not a sport for the light of wallet.

Our Chris King headset on our Zona tandem now has 22,000+ miles on it . . . a good investment!

Once again, I am reminded that this is not a sport for the light of wallet.

It's all relative.

My previous passion for sport was offshore fishing when we lived in Miami. My modest single outboard boat would only burn 25 -30 gallons a day because we kept it close by to the fishing grounds near Islamorada in the Keys and had only to drive 60 miles each way to get there + bait, ice, food & drinks on the 40-50 days/yr. that we fished + monthly rental at the marina, annual insurance & registration. Any mechanical work that beyond was my capabilities was $85/Hr + parts.

We enjoyed very fresh Dolphin (Mahi), Tuna, Wahoo, Snapper and Grouper, but I couldn't tell you that our overall cost was any less than you'd pay retail at the finer seafood market.

A couple of guys I know play golf most weekends. Greens fees are over $100 at medium rated courses during the season and much higher at some places. You stand out in the sun and whack a little ball around, some times you get rained on. How much fun is that?

On the rear wheel: If it is a dished wheel, the left side spokes will, and must be noticeably looser. If it is not a dished wheel then one side really can't be looser, or the rim will be off center. The Phil Wood tandem rear is zero dish, but I think most other tandem rear hubs are dished.

At current price of gasoline, 280 bucks would not get you as much fun as the tandem!

Yes, parts are sometimes expensive, but if you compare the amounts bike shops charge versus lawyers and audi dealerships it works out very reasonable. I do sometimes wonder how they manage to re-carpet the store and keep their children in shoes.

Only you can decide the trade off between time / expertise / expenditure on tools / short term / long term savings / quality of the bike repair. IMHO the longer you ride the less willing you are to put up with imperfectly adjusted parts and not being able to fix things immediately as needed, which tends to turn people into home mechanics.

1. Get a bigger Crescent wrench. Mine (so big it is named: "Big Bertha") is a treasure from my poor student racing days, when my teammate and roommate had to split the cost. I have stupidly torn off plumbing pipes with it, there is so much torque.

2. Just replace the headset, King's are good, but proper adjustment will keep a Tange good for a long time.

3. Nothing wrong with rear wheel, as others mentioned.

4. If you can feel the bottom bracket roughness with the cranks on, it is bad.

You aren't even approaching expensive.

So far, I'm up to $220

Dinner for two in many places, light work on your car will run you more. One or two good rides are worth at least that much.

I do most work myself, but I had a few issues I could not fix--at least not without buying some expensive tools.

Funny, I always look forward to those types of issues since it gives me the shallow excuse I need to add to my seldom-used but really cool tool collection.

In fact, the other night I "had to" pick up a metric tap & tie set so I could cut additional threads into a Campy Record Skeleton dual-pivot front caliper's mounting bolt.

Lest anyone be left to wonder, the modified front caliper was used to replace the nearly worthless single-pivot used in Campy's differential caliper brake set.

Call #2 today: "Need to replace the headset...and I'm going to Interbike on until Thursday..."

Looking like a Sunday pickup. I was afraid to ask for the current total.

$450. I was one day hoping to get our costs per mile down below $1; it's going to be a few thousand miles more.

I'm trying to figure out what kind of headset they put on. I can post a picture if anyone needs it.

It looks a lot like the old one: I suspect they used the same top cap, which reads "Ahea dset" (bolt is between the "a" and "d". "Aheadset" is also printed on the front and back of the lower race (hope I got the name of that part correct).

They told me this was a sealed bearing headset, but it looks so much like the old one (Tange), that now I'm a little worried I was grossly overcharged. Anyone know who made this headset, and what I should have paid for it. (It's a Santana 1 and 1/4").

They told me this was a sealed bearing headset, but it looks so much like the old one (Tange), that now I'm a little worried I was grossly overcharged. Anyone know who made this headset, and what I should have paid for it. (It's a Santana 1 and 1/4").

Precision Tandem's retail price is $50.

Bah, think I overpaid. Does Tange make this for Dia Compe, or are they different parts?

http://precisiontandems.com/catframepart.htm

Bah, think I overpaid. Does Tange make this for Dia Compe, or are they different parts?

There are some items where I just don't know who actually makes what when it comes across the Pacific... but it's fair to say base models of the sealed bearing 'Aheadset' headsets are nominally a $25 - $50 item. Their more commonly found 1" and 1 1/8" cousins can be had for less...

Anyway, overpaid is relative if you need the services of a good bike shop... but $450 :twitchy:

Of course, that said, I'll admit to using Quicken since 1992 and, worse yet, to logging every purchase I make into one of way too many categories (I think I have 10 cycling sub-categories). It's enough to take your breath away when I run a complete history report... and I don't think I've paid to have a bike shop do anything aside from chasing the threads on a buggered-up eccentric that I cross threaded (Note: drinking tequila and wrenching don't mix). Less I digress...

Bottom Line: If that $450 will double the service life of your existing tandem you're way ahead of the game to be sure.

Costs for new tandem and parts . . .
We buy the best we can afford. Have kept/ridden all our custom tandems for minimum of 56,000 miles, each; and yes, you can get cost-per-mile down below $1 when you factor in the sale of the then old/used tandem.
Quality lasts . . .