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05-28-09, 12:35 AM
Background: I had just purchased a low milage '96 Cannondale MT1000 tandem off Craiglist for my daughter and I to get into tandem riding and eventually do some longer distance rides. My wife and son also seemed interested in tandem riding. The wife and son would only do shorter trips ... probably no faster than 15 mph (I stand corrected, they have already reached 17 mph on our second ride!) ... Mother's Day was a week away ... what a fun surprise to purchase a tandem for the wife, too! I would pull the 4 year old in the child trailer behind my tandem.
Finances being what they were, I had to come in under $250. Nothing on Craigslist. Checked ebay, came across the Caddie Up tandems. Hmm, a local seller; wonder where he's at in Houston? Nothing on Craigslist ... what about that ebay seller? I know, those of you whose Sidi shoes cost more than the entire tandem wonder how a wife and mother would be happy with the cheapest tandem on the planet. Let me just say she thinks department store bikes are a much better buy than bikes costing 10x as much from a bike shop. The Caddie Up would be fine by her.
I contacted the seller funon4, knowing he was in Houston. Found out he was a ten minute drive away. Only one thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=143828) on Caddie Up tandems here on BF with the usual department store bikes suck mantra. True, but preaching to the choir. So I went to check out the bikes ... got to test ride one ... wasn't any worse than my expectations. I studied the bike over, offered the seller $150 cash, and avoided the $30 "box and handling charge."
Brand new in box. Took it home. Quality? Go to Target, Wal-Mart, Academy, and find the lowest price adult 26" bike they sell, and certainly some of the parts on this tandem are a lower quality. Funny thing is, I have read the low-end Trek Cruiser tandem at $800 has the same Shimano Revo grip shifters. :o
Unpacked the box and had to install the front wheel, seatpost and saddles, pedals, and handlebars (like on any boxed bike). Rear wheel was slightly out of true, but certainly rideable. A little adjustment to the rear brake and the brake no longer rubbed on a portion of the wheel, and the brake is still tight enough for good braking. Riding the bike, I am surprised at the stopping power. The front brake and wheel were just fine. Gears were OK out of the box, but I think I did a little adjusting to them a couple days later (probably cable stretch).
As it is, the bike is just fine to ride. I repeat, one needs to change absolutely nothing to ride this bike. Seatposts, stems, cranks, pedals, chains, cables, brake pads, AL rims, all work fine. Will they wear out sooner than the components on a bike costing 10X as much? Certainly. Could I replace them now? Sure, but no need to, and I'm not going to.
The Sport frame is a mountain frame with low rise mountain handlebars. The tires are 26 x 2.1" white wall beach cruiser tires. The brand? Wanda King (no joke). The saddles are very cheap sprung beach cruiser saddles. Kinda odd to have for a "sport" model. But, Caddie Up also sells a beach cruiser (http://www.shopdirect24-7.com/) and a folding beach cruiser, so they obviously use the same parts across the different models. I demoed all 3 and liked the geometry of the sport model best.
What I replaced:
Saddles: I had a saddle from the Cannondale tandem which my wife liked, and I picked up a $14 child's saddle on clearance at REI for my son.
Tires: Tires is something I like to put on a bike, so the Wanda Kings had to go. REI had the Michelin City tires (http://www.rei.com/product/774366) on sale for $21 each, a good puncture resistant tire, important since no quick release levers come on the wheels. This tire has a reflective sidewall for visibility and comes in a 1.85" size for stability. Certainly better rolling than the stock tire.
Stoker handgrips: Replaced with gel grips (http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/787537) for $4 (stoker stock grips were unpadded and slippery).
Cages: The included water bottle cages were made of very thin wire, easily bendable, so I also replaced them with $4 AL cages (http://www.rei.com/product/777620) from REI.
Accessories I added:
Captain Cockpit: Moved a Cateye bike computer from the 'dale for my wife (I have a Garmin 305 for the Cannondale), and had a Rhode Gear velcro mirror and Red Bell Pepper bell for her cockpit.
Stoker cockpit: For the stoker cockpit I moved over his Disney Parks speedometer (free last summer with 5 cereal proofs of purchase) since it had a nice long cable which reached the rear wheel. Also bought an Avenir Compass Bell (http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/792411) for $3, and a velcro mirror (http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/792918) for $6.
Frame: I added a Nashbar triangle frame bag, which you see in the middle of the frame in the photos below. Also put a red blinking light I had in place of the rear reflector.
Keeping track of expenditures? $83.35 for accessories, all of which I paid for with an REI gift card. Total cost is $232, not including the value of the accessories I already had.
It even has a kickstand. Bet you had to pay for yours on your tandem. :D
Yeah, I peeled off the stickers on the downtube that said "Sport Tandem" and the Caddie Up headbadge. For laughs, and to confuse people like yourself who think you know a lot about tandems, I may put a Ferrari sticker on the headbadge. That's to compete with the Lamborghini tandem. :lol:
Gotten a few rides in, the last one being a ten mile round trip. During the summer the farthest I see us doing is the 20 miles round trip to the zoo.
The whole family loves riding the tandems. Suddenly I've gone from being the only one in my family to enjoy cycling to now all 5 members of my family riding together and enjoying it. This would not have happened without Caddie Up. So those who think these inexpensive tandems serve no purpose other than to turn hoards of imaginary riders away from tandeming, think again.
The kicker ... my son. He is ten years old, and I've been trying to get him to ride his bike for six years. He never wants to get out and ride. But he lohhhhhves the Caddie Up tandem. Our last ride, he was the one to ask if we could go for a ride that evening. :thumb:
eBay listing: TANDEM BIKE SPORT MOUNTAIN - ROAD 21SP SHIMANO
$149 reserve price, having the following specifications:
* FRAME: 26" Tandem Hi-Ten Steel
* SIZE: 19"16
* FORK: Hi-Ten Steel
* DERAILLEUR: Shimano
* CRANKSET: Alloy 28/38/48T
* BRAKES: Alloy V-Brake
* SHIFTERS: Shimano Grip Shift Index
* HANDLEBARS: Alloy
* STEM: Alloy
* SEATS: Oversized Comfort
* SEAT POST: Alloy W/Q.R.
* HUBS: Alloy 36H
* RIMS: Alloy 26" x 1.75"
* TIRES: 26" x 2.10" Black/White
* KICKSTAND: Strong support installed
* BOX SIZE: 78" x 27" x 8"
* SUITABLE RIDER WEIGHT: Up to total of 450 lbs.
* SUITABLE RIDER HEIGHT: Up to 6'2"
Photos stopped showing for me. Maybe a bandwidth issue with Picasa? Might come back in a day or two.
Finances being what they were, I had to come in under $250. Nothing on Craigslist. Checked ebay, came across the Caddie Up tandems. Hmm, a local seller; wonder where he's at in Houston? Nothing on Craigslist ... what about that ebay seller? I know, those of you whose Sidi shoes cost more than the entire tandem wonder how a wife and mother would be happy with the cheapest tandem on the planet. Let me just say she thinks department store bikes are a much better buy than bikes costing 10x as much from a bike shop. The Caddie Up would be fine by her.
I contacted the seller funon4, knowing he was in Houston. Found out he was a ten minute drive away. Only one thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=143828) on Caddie Up tandems here on BF with the usual department store bikes suck mantra. True, but preaching to the choir. So I went to check out the bikes ... got to test ride one ... wasn't any worse than my expectations. I studied the bike over, offered the seller $150 cash, and avoided the $30 "box and handling charge."
Brand new in box. Took it home. Quality? Go to Target, Wal-Mart, Academy, and find the lowest price adult 26" bike they sell, and certainly some of the parts on this tandem are a lower quality. Funny thing is, I have read the low-end Trek Cruiser tandem at $800 has the same Shimano Revo grip shifters. :o
Unpacked the box and had to install the front wheel, seatpost and saddles, pedals, and handlebars (like on any boxed bike). Rear wheel was slightly out of true, but certainly rideable. A little adjustment to the rear brake and the brake no longer rubbed on a portion of the wheel, and the brake is still tight enough for good braking. Riding the bike, I am surprised at the stopping power. The front brake and wheel were just fine. Gears were OK out of the box, but I think I did a little adjusting to them a couple days later (probably cable stretch).
As it is, the bike is just fine to ride. I repeat, one needs to change absolutely nothing to ride this bike. Seatposts, stems, cranks, pedals, chains, cables, brake pads, AL rims, all work fine. Will they wear out sooner than the components on a bike costing 10X as much? Certainly. Could I replace them now? Sure, but no need to, and I'm not going to.
The Sport frame is a mountain frame with low rise mountain handlebars. The tires are 26 x 2.1" white wall beach cruiser tires. The brand? Wanda King (no joke). The saddles are very cheap sprung beach cruiser saddles. Kinda odd to have for a "sport" model. But, Caddie Up also sells a beach cruiser (http://www.shopdirect24-7.com/) and a folding beach cruiser, so they obviously use the same parts across the different models. I demoed all 3 and liked the geometry of the sport model best.
What I replaced:
Saddles: I had a saddle from the Cannondale tandem which my wife liked, and I picked up a $14 child's saddle on clearance at REI for my son.
Tires: Tires is something I like to put on a bike, so the Wanda Kings had to go. REI had the Michelin City tires (http://www.rei.com/product/774366) on sale for $21 each, a good puncture resistant tire, important since no quick release levers come on the wheels. This tire has a reflective sidewall for visibility and comes in a 1.85" size for stability. Certainly better rolling than the stock tire.
Stoker handgrips: Replaced with gel grips (http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/787537) for $4 (stoker stock grips were unpadded and slippery).
Cages: The included water bottle cages were made of very thin wire, easily bendable, so I also replaced them with $4 AL cages (http://www.rei.com/product/777620) from REI.
Accessories I added:
Captain Cockpit: Moved a Cateye bike computer from the 'dale for my wife (I have a Garmin 305 for the Cannondale), and had a Rhode Gear velcro mirror and Red Bell Pepper bell for her cockpit.
Stoker cockpit: For the stoker cockpit I moved over his Disney Parks speedometer (free last summer with 5 cereal proofs of purchase) since it had a nice long cable which reached the rear wheel. Also bought an Avenir Compass Bell (http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/792411) for $3, and a velcro mirror (http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/792918) for $6.
Frame: I added a Nashbar triangle frame bag, which you see in the middle of the frame in the photos below. Also put a red blinking light I had in place of the rear reflector.
Keeping track of expenditures? $83.35 for accessories, all of which I paid for with an REI gift card. Total cost is $232, not including the value of the accessories I already had.
It even has a kickstand. Bet you had to pay for yours on your tandem. :D
Yeah, I peeled off the stickers on the downtube that said "Sport Tandem" and the Caddie Up headbadge. For laughs, and to confuse people like yourself who think you know a lot about tandems, I may put a Ferrari sticker on the headbadge. That's to compete with the Lamborghini tandem. :lol:
Gotten a few rides in, the last one being a ten mile round trip. During the summer the farthest I see us doing is the 20 miles round trip to the zoo.
The whole family loves riding the tandems. Suddenly I've gone from being the only one in my family to enjoy cycling to now all 5 members of my family riding together and enjoying it. This would not have happened without Caddie Up. So those who think these inexpensive tandems serve no purpose other than to turn hoards of imaginary riders away from tandeming, think again.
The kicker ... my son. He is ten years old, and I've been trying to get him to ride his bike for six years. He never wants to get out and ride. But he lohhhhhves the Caddie Up tandem. Our last ride, he was the one to ask if we could go for a ride that evening. :thumb:
eBay listing: TANDEM BIKE SPORT MOUNTAIN - ROAD 21SP SHIMANO
$149 reserve price, having the following specifications:
* FRAME: 26" Tandem Hi-Ten Steel
* SIZE: 19"16
* FORK: Hi-Ten Steel
* DERAILLEUR: Shimano
* CRANKSET: Alloy 28/38/48T
* BRAKES: Alloy V-Brake
* SHIFTERS: Shimano Grip Shift Index
* HANDLEBARS: Alloy
* STEM: Alloy
* SEATS: Oversized Comfort
* SEAT POST: Alloy W/Q.R.
* HUBS: Alloy 36H
* RIMS: Alloy 26" x 1.75"
* TIRES: 26" x 2.10" Black/White
* KICKSTAND: Strong support installed
* BOX SIZE: 78" x 27" x 8"
* SUITABLE RIDER WEIGHT: Up to total of 450 lbs.
* SUITABLE RIDER HEIGHT: Up to 6'2"
Photos stopped showing for me. Maybe a bandwidth issue with Picasa? Might come back in a day or two.