Tandem Cycling - Frustrated in St. Louis (O'fallon, IL.)

Hi,
I am new to the forum and to the tandem scene. My wife and I are wanting to get a tandem but it appears anyway that the bike shops in this area are not tandem friendly. We did find the Co-Motion dealer (The Hub) very helpful but other than them it seems a very dry area. I have been a avid single biker for 30 years so this is a little frustrating. The shops I have called said they would be glad to get one in for 20-25% down but this is not a possibility. I just want to be able to compare the different brands. Santana didn’t return my email, Trek was no help at all locally or at corporate. I even searched for a local tandem club but so far I haven’t had any luck, even emailed someone in Springfield, IL. but a dead end there. Our desire is to eventually buy a quality used tandem for our first bike. So getting to there from where we are now looks to be uphill and against the wind. So if there are any from the St. Louis Metro area (or out) that can help out a couple get started we sure would appreciate it.
Thanks so much, Mark

Mark,

Try Precision Tandems:

http://www.precisiontandems.com/about.htm

They do mostly mail order so I am not sure if they have bikes you could test ride.
They are extremely experienced and knowledgeable with tandems, maybe just talking with them would help.

Good Luck

I know exactly what you mean but we're out there. There were at least 5 at the last Trailnet ride.
Try Tandem Mules, or more specifically, Glen and Karen Meyer. http://home.earthlink.net/~tandemmules/contact_info.html (http://home.earthlink.net/%7Etandemmules/contact_info.html)
Very very good people, very informative and helpful. I've lost track of how many tandems they've got now, they were on the lightspeed today. Don't know when they last updated the site, both of them are quite busy.
I used my single bike's measurements and the internet to find the bike that fits me and bought it on clearance in Indianapolis, found through another internet search. I did go to the Hub, they were very nice but just didn't have what I personally needed. My husband got one on ebay- it's a little too small. Craigslist offers up a very occasional gem. Glen has mentioned Precision Tandems and there's a special on the Mule's homepage. Certainly it's harder than picking up a single around here but don't give up!

This may seem unreasonable but you come come out to California and test ride a tandem at Crank-2 in Pleasanton. Site is at http://www.crank-2.com. A lot of people actually do this. The owner, Bryon Price has people fly in and test bikes all day. He's got Santana, Co-Motion and daVinci. We test rode bikes all day and ended up with..well, I think you know what we ended up with.

There used to be a tandem group up there named the MULES. They're not as active as they used to be, but if you join the Yahoo Group TandemMules and post the same question you might get some responses from locals.

I thought The Touring Cyclist (http://www.touringcyclist.com) used to sell tandems but their website doesn't indicate it. You might call their Bridgeton store and ask.

There used to be a tandem group up there named the MULES. They're not as active as they used to be, but if you join the Yahoo Group TandemMules and post the same question you might get some responses from locals.

"TandemMules" is probably your best bet. Otherwise PM me and we'll work something out. I live in St Peters.

WOW, Thanks to all the replies. This is very encouraging, to know I'm not just imagining things.

WOW, Thanks to all the replies. This is very encouraging, to know I'm not just imagining things.

Seeing double? Hey, it can happen. :D

Just saw this on craigslist, don't know a thing about it or the seller or if they're asking too much or anything.....
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/bik/1401732561.html

I saw it too, thanks for the info though.

I just want to second the suggestion about precision tandems. I live in Kansas City, obviously a few hours from St. Louis. I bought our used triplet from them. I called them up and Mark did a great job of introducing us to the tandem experience, putting us each on as stoker and then helping me with the process of being the captain.

If you are ever in the KC area, look them up. Also, I would be happy to share my experience and my triplet with you. Its not going to help with comparing different bikes, but it might be fun anyway. There are occassionally tandems in our craigs list, and I know of number of tandem riders around here.

My experience has been much like yours. Bought my first tandem from a thrifty nickel ad. Got my second mail order new. My third tandem is a semi-recumbent which I bought direct from the factory in Taiwan after hopelessly trying to find somewhere in the midwest who even sold them. I sold my second tandem on Craigslist which is probably the best place to look for a used one.

If you really want to try out some different models to see what you like then I really think you are going to have to do some travelling.

PS You can try my semi-recumbent if you want but if your stoker is OK riding in the normal position then you should avoid the semi-recumbent.

Velocity shop at Debalivere & Forest Park (think History museum) has 2 different KHS tandems that can be rented. They are trying to sell the higher end one with STI shifters for about $1k. I started working as the mechanic there a few weeks ago. let me know if I can help you out- I have been working on rebuilding an ol 79 schwinn twinn sport for months now. I know its rare to find a tandem out here, I got real excited when this one appeared on CL for 150$ (broke college student budget..)

good luck- check out the swap meet Jan 30 in collinsville IL - http://stlbikefed.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50:expo&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

- there was a decent burley there for about 400$ last year..who knows?