Tandem Cycling - Identify frame
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Hi all.I've just joined the wonderful world of tandeming with the aquisition of this:-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14468090@N00/3881126284/
It's a steel frame from the 70's/80's?It has a barely decipherable serial number under the bottom bracket.
Does anyone have more details on its origin?
It looks like it's from the 90s - can you post some higher resolution pictures?
Thanks -will take some close ups later.
jnbrown
09-02-09, 10:21 AM
It looks Schwinn Varsity-esque. Not sure if they made a tandem version of it.
It does look very similar to this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfCIxl39fPA especially like the chrome mud-guards,
although the colour of mine(Jaguar F1 Racing Green) is not original.
I've posted some more pics on Flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/14468090@N00/3881759712 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14468090@N00/3881759712)
It's a steel frame from the 70's/80's?
From the close-ups of the headtube welds, I can tell you that it is NOT a Schwinn. Schwinns had very clean fillet brazing, and I'm afraid this puppy's welds are very rough.
I would not hesitate to say that this was a department store tandem ... kent, murray, huffy, sears, etc, of the day. And I'd say you're right on that day ... probably 70's or 80's.
The upside is that someone has gone thru a lot of trouble to refurb this bike, what with the new fork, new paint, new wheels and Schwalbe tires, etc. So maybe it'll work well enough for you folks to see what tandeming is all about.
BTW, you should NEVER ride a bike in the gear this bike was in when those pics were taken. That's called the "extreme cross-over gear", and is a no-no. Look at the rear derailleur. It's stretched so far forward as to be almost ripped off the bike. Now get on the bike and actually pedal it, and the stresses that you're placing on the derailleur are enormous. Also, get behind the bike and take a look at the chainline. As you will see, the extreme crossover is not good for chains, either. Wears `em fast!
Onegun
thanks for the advice.The photo was taken just after I had put the wheels back on having transported it home.