Northern California - New Tandem on the Way!!!

Now more than ever, it looks like we need a new tandem. :lol:

We want a tandem that is lighter, stronger, and built to last. We also want to run a rear disc brake.

Around a month ago, we visited the Calfee factory, and decided that is the tandem we wanted! However the price was out of our reach, but that's not just Calfee... Pretty much all new performance oriented tandems are priced high (it's a small enthusiast market).

So I talked to the nice folks at Calfee and they agreed to let us register at Calfee for our wedding gift registry... LOL! The funny thing is, that we were not the first to come up with this, Calfee had done it before for another couple.

It is the only thing we are registered for. Who needs $300 salt-shaker sets, $200 picture frames, and $900 plates :rolleyes:

Our families and some of our friends will call Calfee and contribute their wedding gift towards our Calfee. I'm sure we will still have to foot a substantial balance at the end, but least it will put the bike within our reach :)

We already have a serial number, and our Calfee frameset is due to be completed around 4-days before our wedding.

It will look something like this but ours will be white to continue our theme of white bikes, and without the Zipp wheels.
Most of the components will be transferred from our other bike, except for the wheelset and brakes.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3609/3468925332_c7ef058eb6_b.jpg

Here is a rendering of white (our fork will be white too though):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3658/3468919038_24e94024d0_b.jpg

At the risk of embarrassment I will quote part of the email Ruth sent to our family.



Why? Don't you want dishes and towels?

Biking is a very important part of our lives, we go out every weekend.
It has made us stronger in our relationship and stronger in the legs.
Who else but the person you will marry do you have complete love and
trust to guide you safely down a mountain at over 40 mph? In short,
we'll be biking together until we are old and in walkers. We think
this tandem frame is an appropriate start to our married lives and we
can't wait for the places it will bring us.

There is a saying in the tandem world: Whichever way your relationship
is going, a tandem will get you there faster.

Fact: After 6 months, I knew I was going to marry Marco when we were
on a tandem ride.

That. Is. Awesome.

Not only is that a serious-looking machine, but that's a really great email from Ruth.

Wishing you guys nothing but the best in your marriage. The biking part, well you don't need my wishes - you guys already rock! :thumb:

At the risk of embarrassment I will quote part of the email Ruth sent to our family.



Awww.

So great.

You should consider asking for the Zipps as well; See if you can hit 60 with more aero wheels...
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Congrats, it looks like a sweet bike and the wedding registry idea is awesome :thumb:

Sounds like a great idea. That bike looks scary fast.

I'm not even going to bother whipping out the thesaurus, because previous posters have nailed the correct word so nicely.

That's completely awesome. I can't wait to see the finished product, with strings of tin cans hanging off the back. :beer:

Dripping with awesomeness.
I don't see a registry link on the Calfee site though.

Dripping with awesomeness.
I don't see a registry link on the Calfee site though.

They don't do it very often....

It's setup so the contributor would call Calfee, and mention our wedding. They have our account setup.

Gorgeous. I was staring at the Calfee (Da Vinci) in Crank 2 for ages the other weekend until my wife dragged me away :-)

I :love: Calfee.

You will too. Great idea with the registry. :thumb:

I'm torn between delight for you guys and terror for those of us who labor to keep up with your old rig.



Congrats and great move!

I'm torn between delight for you guys and terror for those of us who labor to keep up with your old rig.



Even the fanciest of bikes require air in the tires to go fast. :innocent:

Even the fanciest of bikes require air in the tires to go fast. :innocent:

...don't forget the artichoke bread parachutes on the seatpost :D...

At the risk of embarrassment I will quote part of the email Ruth sent to our family.



Why? Don't you want dishes and towels?

Biking is a very important part of our lives, we go out every weekend.
It has made us stronger in our relationship and stronger in the legs.
Who else but the person you will marry do you have complete love and
trust to guide you safely down a mountain at over 40 mph? In short,
we'll be biking together until we are old and in walkers. We think
this tandem frame is an appropriate start to our married lives and we
can't wait for the places it will bring us.

There is a saying in the tandem world: Whichever way your relationship
is going, a tandem will get you there faster.

Fact: After 6 months, I knew I was going to marry Marco when we were
on a tandem ride.

:love::love::love: Ruth has done a terrific job of verbalizing how I feel about cgallagh and me on a tandem, except that we waited 26 years to get our first one.

I don't know Ruth but she's mind kind of girl. Practical, smart, strong, and fond of hawt guys. ;)

The bike is beautiful.

Scary fast looking. The joints all look so full of 'roids. Can't wait to see it in person.

:love::love::love: Ruth has done a terrific job of verbalizing how I feel about cgallagh and me on a tandem, except that we waited 26 years to get our first one.

I don't know Ruth but she's mind kind of girl. Practical, smart, strong, and fond of hawt guys. ;)

The bike is beautiful.

Aw...thank you Red Rider! I hope you we can get together soon for a ride.

I feel the BF love *sniffle*

As long as the final bike has Campagnolo.

As long as the final bike has Campagnolo.

Do you have to ask? :thumb:

Do you have to ask? :thumb:*cough*SR*cough*

:D

Congrats on the new tandem. You certainly deserve it. I love the financing strategy. I wonder if Velodiva and I could get married again?:D

Congrats Marco and Ruth. Looks like no more wrangling with the headset eh:)

Everyone's already said it, but that's just awesome.

Looks heavy.

PS- no on the couplers?
PPS- tell them BB30 or you'll shop elsewhere.

Sweet!!! :D :thumb:

Can't wait to see it in person.

(Of course it will just be a quick blur flashing by.)

very nice. great idea and good choice on calfee.

+2 on the truth of ruth's mail - jen and i feel the same way about our co-mo.

Sorry for the late reply. Hope to see you guys soon!

Where's the linky for the registry??? Oops, nvrmind. I guess we have to call. Thanks.

Congrats first on getting married. Fah and I are looking into tandems now, as she would like to ride with me/us more but at the moment unless i am on a recovery ride it just isn't feasible. Price is definitely the factor holding me back though.

Must say that Tandem looks sweet, and you guys kicked my ass on it yesterday, the new one i doubt i could ever keep up with!

AWESOME! as everyone else said.

Campagnolo: Do you have to ask? :thumb:

I guess you are going to use your current crankset, so nothing to worry about.

However, that Butcher Campy crankset (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=8756135&postcount=57) looks real nice. You could use a square taper BB, 2006 Record aluminum triple, with a 2006 Record carbon crank for the stoker timing chain. For the Captain's crank, a 2006 Record Carbon (maybe UT could be used for the Captain). That 2006 Campy Record stuff is available NOS for not that much (http://www.totalcycling.com/index.php/product/fcrecord3.html?action=currency&id=USD).

I too have been looking at getting a Calfee. Mike Moore at Calfee sent me an Excel spreadsheet for a typical Calfee tandem build. I looked up the weights for all the components, and added these weights to the spreadsheet. I've posted the spreadsheet on Google docs, here (http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=rAS2VMZ86roDqGz7LDaOV7g), and a screenshot is below. If you send me a PM with your email address, I can send you the spreadsheet file (because I've noticed that Google docs scrambles the links).


http://i42.tinypic.com/v5e5tu.jpg

Is it me or did Shimano copy Campagnolo on their new STI designs? Sorry for the TJ.