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07-06-09, 09:24 PM
I've been into cycling as a commuter for the last year or so, and my cycling was the impetus for fixing up my mom and dad's inherited cruisers. Much to our surprise, my dad took to it. He doesn't ride often, and I don't blame him; with the baskets attached, the bike weighs in at 55lbs, and it's only a 3-speed IGH. I suspect my mom doesn't ride much because of vision problems and extreme fatigue due to MS.
Long story short, they both know they want to keep active and stay healthy. Cycling on a single bike wasn't going to cut it. Their 25th anniversary is coming up this August so we (my brother, sister and I) decided to get them something special. My sister wanted to replace my dad's wedding ring which gave its life to save my dad's fingers from the table saw last summer but we determined that it'd be too pricey and personal for us to do. I got to thinking and started perusing craigslist. Long story short, I wound up with a tandem strapped to my thrift store trunk rack after driving by a flea market seeing this gleaming diamond in the rough.
Well, it didn't look as good when we bought it. The seats were.... well they were bad. Falling apart, fabric missing, the cushioning deteriorating, etc. The grips had turned from a nice soft padding to a sticky mess. The stoker's pedals were mismatched with one having a toe clip and the other not. I'm reasonably handy with the bike tools and maintain my own bikes so none of this scared me.
The first thing to go was the grips as they made it very difficult to even test the bike. While riding in the parking lot to make sure it worked and could shift gears reasonably well (and brake reasonably well too) I had to hold the bars with just my fingertips to avoid the gross stickiness of the grips.
And then I added the seats. They're not my kind of seat, but then again, my dad is still confused as to how I don't see my seat as a form of torture. I did it for them, not me.
I still have to steal the semi-slick tires off of my mountain bike because the rear tire is separating and the tube is poking through, and it is going to get a good tune up (adjusting the brakes, replacing a spoke on the rear wheel, and adjusting the deraillers) and wipe down but otherwise it is done.
Here's a cost break down:
Bike - $86
Bell - $4.19
Grips - 2x $7.99
Seats - 2x $19.99
Total cost, with tax has come to $128.76 so far. My brother, sister and myself are splitting the cost, and going to surprise them with it in the coming weeks (they're bringing a trailer load of mulch to the house my brother and I are living at now so it works out, I'd be wary of 100 miles with the tandem on the cheap rack).
I can't quite nail down the year, but from what I can tell its a 1995-1997 Univega Tandem Sport. My only concern is the learning curve in getting them to ride it. My brother and I had a fun time learning that, but once we got going it was a blast - save for the dragging rear brake and seats that were coming loose from the posts...
:)
Long story short, they both know they want to keep active and stay healthy. Cycling on a single bike wasn't going to cut it. Their 25th anniversary is coming up this August so we (my brother, sister and I) decided to get them something special. My sister wanted to replace my dad's wedding ring which gave its life to save my dad's fingers from the table saw last summer but we determined that it'd be too pricey and personal for us to do. I got to thinking and started perusing craigslist. Long story short, I wound up with a tandem strapped to my thrift store trunk rack after driving by a flea market seeing this gleaming diamond in the rough.
Well, it didn't look as good when we bought it. The seats were.... well they were bad. Falling apart, fabric missing, the cushioning deteriorating, etc. The grips had turned from a nice soft padding to a sticky mess. The stoker's pedals were mismatched with one having a toe clip and the other not. I'm reasonably handy with the bike tools and maintain my own bikes so none of this scared me.
The first thing to go was the grips as they made it very difficult to even test the bike. While riding in the parking lot to make sure it worked and could shift gears reasonably well (and brake reasonably well too) I had to hold the bars with just my fingertips to avoid the gross stickiness of the grips.
And then I added the seats. They're not my kind of seat, but then again, my dad is still confused as to how I don't see my seat as a form of torture. I did it for them, not me.
I still have to steal the semi-slick tires off of my mountain bike because the rear tire is separating and the tube is poking through, and it is going to get a good tune up (adjusting the brakes, replacing a spoke on the rear wheel, and adjusting the deraillers) and wipe down but otherwise it is done.
Here's a cost break down:
Bike - $86
Bell - $4.19
Grips - 2x $7.99
Seats - 2x $19.99
Total cost, with tax has come to $128.76 so far. My brother, sister and myself are splitting the cost, and going to surprise them with it in the coming weeks (they're bringing a trailer load of mulch to the house my brother and I are living at now so it works out, I'd be wary of 100 miles with the tandem on the cheap rack).
I can't quite nail down the year, but from what I can tell its a 1995-1997 Univega Tandem Sport. My only concern is the learning curve in getting them to ride it. My brother and I had a fun time learning that, but once we got going it was a blast - save for the dragging rear brake and seats that were coming loose from the posts...
:)