Tandem Cycling - Santana Single?

I didn't know that Santana ever made single bikes: http://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/bik/892415111.html

They did a few of the ATB Moda's like the one you've posted a link to and then just a few years back (1999 - 2000?) they also did a handful of Scandium "Stylus" single road bikes before offering up their Scandium aluminum tandem frames. You can find a mention of both bikes is the following excerpt from a 2007 posting (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=5572261&postcount=20) and on Santana's Website (http://santanatandem.com/Techno/FNScandium07.html) and in this BF thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=165300).




And there is a special single road bike described on the German Santana pages. This bike is build for a bikers weight up to 200kg (incl.baggage) and is based on the usual Santana tandem construction.

I've not seen that description, but I can tell you that Santana has played around with single bikes a couple times. Once, many years ago, they built a few all-terrain bikes (very rare) and then a few years back they solicited feedback from a number of the better custom single bike builders on geometry as part of a very limited build of Scandium single bikes. Santana used what they had in hand for components -- 1.25" headsets and 160mm rear spacing -- to build these bikes which were ostensibly intended to allow them to evaluate how well Easton's Scandium aluminum would be to work with and to hold up as a tandem frame material. These were coveted by Santana-devotees and everyone once in a while one will show up in the second hand market. While it could be argued that these single bikes were built for super-big riders, that is also true of every Santana tandem. A good thing for very large teams. There is also at least one Beyond single bike that was commissioned by Jay Leno as a gift for former US President Bill Clinton after it was determined that the Beyond tandem Leno had given to President Clinton and his wife Hillary, the Senator from New York, was not allowed under the Senate Rules for gift giving. I believe Leno may still have the Beyond tandem but can't be sure.

I thought I remembered them offering one in the iso-grid tubing also? I am probably wrong.

I thought I remembered them offering one in the exo-grid tubing also? I am probably wrong.

Santana built a custom-sized Beyond S&S tandem for Jay Leno to give as a gift to former Pres. Bill & Senator Hillary Clinton; however, Senate rules prohibited acceptance of the 'gift' given it's $14k retail value. As a consolation gift, Leno had Santana built former Pres. Clinton what was at the time the only Santana single bike made with the Isogrid tubing noting that former presidents may accept such gifts. I think this may have been mentioned in this same 2007 posting (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=5572261&postcount=20) I linked to above.

I also ran an item in my Bulletin Board back in Nov '02 regarding the original tandem gift:


Nov 02 - $14,000 Tandem Gift For Bill & Hillary Clinton Deemed "Over the Top" -- As reported by various news outlets, apparently the folks at "The Tonight Show" teamed up with the folks at Santana Cycles, Inc. and presented Bill & Hillary Clinton with a top-of-the-line Santana Beyond travel tandem as a get-well gift following his heart bypass surgery. Unfortunately, no one bothered to check into the U.S. Senate's rules regarding limits on the value of gifts that a sitting Senator can accept and, well, the $14,000.00 (no, that's not a misprint) Santana Beyond was over the limit by about $13,950

Probably have to call and confirm just what they've produced for private and public consumption over the years. One of the referenced posts at BF mentions building only 200 of the Stylus frames and only a portion of those made it into the open market. Heck, I was quite surprised to learn of Santana's short-run of open framed / lower-cost Solana tandems just last month.

Found what looks like a Ti single when doing a google search.
http://www.precisiontandems.com/cat_files/stylusframe.jpg
Oops. Just read your earlier links that is the Scandium not Ti.

The Solana was not an open framed tandem, but a double diamond framed tandem built in 1983.
Listed by Santana as a 'mid-priced' tandem but without hand detailing and without some of the more expensive components on their other twicers.
At that time we had a financial stake in a local bike shop that handled Santana and also Dawes (English), Gottfried (French) and Berry (local custom) tandems.
Santana's built some very lmited production bikes including the Moda.
They will, build almost anything custom, including a single speed multi-seater for the Disney folks.
Exogrid is just an upscale/pricier/fancier version of Isogrid in our estimation.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

Oops. Just read your earlier links that is the Scandium not Ti.

I’d forgotten that Mark had the photo of a non-prism effect / clear-coated Stylus frame; it does indeed look very similar to Ti in the photo but the externally butted top tube and Easton sticker on the seat tube are dead give aways. The other two Stylus frames in the BF thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=165300)had the prism finish and clear coat that Santana uses on its aluminum LE models and offers up – at least in the past – as an optional finish with either a clear or translucent colored top coat as an alternative to paint.


The Solana was not an open framed tandem, but a double diamond framed tandem built in 1983.

You are correct; I mis-spoke… so to speak.


Exogrid is just an upscale/pricier/fancier version of Isogrid in our estimation.

Interesting, but totally unrelated to anything else in this thread… that is, unless someone other than Titus (http://www.titusti.com/fcr_exo_road.html)(i.e., Santana) has built a single bike out of Exogrid.

Cute, Mark: 'miss spoke'!
Have seen the Titus Exogrid single; it was mentioned that 'tana tandems 'could' be available as Exogrid by Mr. Bill.

Interesting, but totally unrelated to anything else in this thread… that is, unless someone other than Titus (http://www.titusti.com/fcr_exo_road.html)(i.e., Santana) has built a single bike out of Exogrid.i've seen a holland single (bill holland a custom builder in san diego) that was just like the titus vuelo

I've had opportunities to speak personally with Bill McCready on several occasions.

The Moda and the scandium framed single bikes were production runs to test working with new materials.

The double diamond framed tandems were produced after Santana bought several tube sets from a tandem builder who went out of business. What Santana learned from that project resulted in the internal lateral frame tube design that is now common.

My German is not so good, but it looks like these are still available in Europe: http://www.radfahren.de/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2795

I saw one on Santana's Alsace/Black Forest Tour. (They bring it along for the occasional third wheel).

My German is not so good...

Google's Language Tools will let you plug in the URL for a page and translate it to another language. The translations are sometimes a bit rough, but sufficient for comprehension of the original subject matter.

Here's a LINK (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.radfahren.de%2Fmodules.php%3Fname%3DNews%26file%3Darticle%26sid%3D2795&sl=de&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)to a translation of the page you found.

Based on a quick look at the article from 2005, it appears Wolfgang -- Santana's European distributor -- had Santana build some steel single bikes for Wolfgang's touring business. Definitely not a Stylus and the TIG welds look really nice and tight...