Tandem Cycling - What did you just buy for your tandem?

Most of the sub-forums here have a "What did you just buy for your bike" thread. I didn't see one here so I thought I'd start one.

Mrs and I just picked up new saddles. A Terry Rosie for her and a WTB 'Speed' saddle for me.
We also ditched the cheapo suspended seatposts in favor of some rigid 4-bolt BMX posts. We haven't gone riding yet to see if the new posts will be too rigid but I'm hopeful they'll work out; we ride 2.3" tires so we've got a bit of cushion there. Replacing the cheapo suspended posts and comfort saddles shaved almost 4lbs off the bike! I also threw on a pair of cheapo aluminum bar ends on the captains bars for added hand positions.

What have you gotten for your tandem lately?

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Sunlite Double Kickstand

http://www.amazon.com/Pyramid-Sunlite-Double-Kickstand/dp/B000AO9Z7K


I just bought this double kickstand for my tandem because I found the centerstand on my motorcycle to be very stable and useful relative to the side kickstand.

I also bought a higher riser handlebar to swap out for better reach when smaller kids stoke.


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Velocity Deep V tandem wheelset. Now we keep one set for road, one set for "off road" or more correctly, riding the gravel roads on levees on the edge of the everglades. :lol:

11-34 Cassette and a new (longer) chain. The DA chain seems quieter and seems to shift a bit better than the SRAM we had been using.

Fifth water bottle cage - Can't fit to the bike until I figure out where to locate my Topeak Road Morph pump.

$5 route sheet holder. My DW wants the route sheet in larger print in a holder attached to an elastic band around my waist. Sort of a combo of (SWMBO and the stoker is never wrong)

I most recently bought regularly scheduled maintenance items (tires and chains). The last elective part purchased turned out to be our best purchase ever..IMHO!!!!

We will hit our 20th year on a Tandem later this year and hands down the single best iten we ever bought in cycling (besides a Tandem) falls into the safety catergory that we found just this last summer.

After one of the rest stops on the Lighthouse Century we could see a flashing red light way waaaay up the road from where we were....because of the long distance we had no idea of the source of the flashing red light ....car? police? signage? emergency equiptment ? After a short while we realized we were not getting closer to it and it fact it was actually moving away...finally after many miles it stayed stationary and we eventually got near enough the source of the flashing red light to realize it was coming from the back of a now stationary Tandem Bicycle!!

Ultimately we learned that the riders of the da Vinci that day were Mr and Mrs rdtomki from this very Tandem bike forum. The swapping of a few pm's a week or so later and Rick T. had me in tough with Dinotte Lghting for the following.

http://store.dinottelighting.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=dinotte&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=386943995&Count2=304084420

When you consider that every time a cyclist gets run over by a car from behind the story is always the same...""the driver just did not see the cyclist until it was too late"".....Well..we still may get run over some day but I am certain that this light is giving us the best chance of being seen by any equiptment out there that I know of. Best wishes.

Bill J.

I purchased a Dinotte 400R for both my bike commuting (e.g. this morning) and for tandem safety as well. I feel a lot safer with the Dinotte. If anyone hits me the "I didn't see him" excuse won't fly. That thing is bright, and can be seen in the daytime, and through fog, and in rain, etc. The difference between a Dinotte and the PB Superflash can be seen in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI52d5bGKHQ).

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2555/4077261104_391359d8a3.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3535/4076506563_e27f2971a4.jpg

Swapped out our FSA 42 tooth middle and 54 tooth large chainring for 39 and 50 tooth rings respectively. The 30 tooth small was changed out last year for a TA 26 tooth ring.

Regarding the topic - three new 10 speed chains (on sale) and a new middle chainring. Third middle chainring this year. Apparently we use that one most... I am hoping that we don't need a new cassette yet since we replaced it just a couple of months ago. I am thinking that with this will make it through our training and the 300, 400 and 600 before I will need to replace everything, just before the 1000k. By the way the single speed timing chain that I am using is holding up very well. Chain looks good, chainrings look good. Well worth the few extra grams as far as I am concerned. Probably won't replace it until the 1000.

Regarding the Dinotte light. It is very bright and when there is no ambient light it messes with your night vision. Probably not a big deal for most tandems, but something to consider if you do a lot of night group riding. One thing I think you should consider, is that it is possible to have too bright a light. (I am not saying that the Dinotte it too bright, I don't own one but I am considering purchasing one.) This is based upon a DOT or CalTrans study and a discussion about this with a friend of mine who works in traffic often and gets alerts/memos from his company about safety in construction zones. Basically the deal is that if you have a light that is distracting and causes the driver to focus on the light rather than the road, the driver, especially if impaired (drunk or stoned), is more likely to drive into the light rather than avoid it. Unfortunately, the light that alerts a typical driver to your location from a long distance can also be the one that will attract the drunk driver to plow into you - like a moth to a flame. If I owned a Dinotte I would set it to non-flash to not be so distracting. This is the same way I ride with my two Planet Bike Super Flashes when we ride at night. Your results may vary. Stay safe.

I'm buying the parts to build a new front wheel for my Screamer to match the rear I built last year. Shimano hub, Velocity Aeroheat rim and Wheelsmith spokes. These will be a step up from the stock wheels on the bike.

I purchased a Dinotte 400R for both my bike commuting (e.g. this morning) and for tandem safety as well. I feel a lot safer with the Dinotte. If anyone hits me the "I didn't see him" excuse won't fly. That thing is bright, and can be seen in the daytime, and through fog, and in rain, etc. The difference between a Dinotte and the PB Superflash can be seen in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI52d5bGKHQ).


Excuse my ignorance: In the video which of the tail lights is the Dinotte (the one on top or the one below)?

Got some Crank Brothers Acid1 pedals for the Screamer. I like Egg beaters, but sometimes I don't want to be fully clipped in, and a little platform is nice.

Excuse my ignorance: In the video which of the tail lights is the Dinotte (the one on top or the one below)?

The lower one... the bright one.

I just bought a 170mm Record triple crankset since my daughter and I are going to start practicing for the STP in July. I also bought matching 170mm Record crank to take care of the timing chain portion.

I'm about to buy a honey colored Brooks B-17. Got one on the single am looking forward to having it on the double.

In the last year.... and with a little help from Quicken


May 11 - Reynold Ouzo Pro Tandem carbon fork on close-out ($229 shipped) from Land Shark cycles for some experimentation
May 13 - A pair of American Classic cassette clips ($31 shipped) to keep my 10 speed Shimano cassettes from destroying my Topolino & Rolf wheelset's cassette carriers
Jun 06 - ProLink chain lube at the Tennessee Tandem Rally ($7.59 w/tax) just for some experimentation (pending)
Jul 24 - A lightly used Profile KK2 water bottle cage off Ebay ($19.95 shipped) just to have on hand as a spare
Jul 24 - A Garmin Edge 705 Edge w/HRM, Cadence and SIM Card ($525 - Bro deal)
Jul 30 - Some extra Garmin GPS handlebar mounts($43 shipped) to make moving Debbie's Garmin Edge 305 between bikes less of a hassle
Oct 03 - A DiNotte 140L AA taillight off of Ebay ($55 shipped)
Oct 16 - A DiNotte 140L Lithium Ion taillight off Ebay ($110 shipped)

I decided to simplify things and gave up on the JTEK Campy-Shimano converter on one tandem and the Shimano 9sp to 10sp converter on another tandem. Bought a White Industries Campy wheel for the first bike to replace Shimano wheels and a right-hand Shimano Ultegra 10sp brifter for the other bike to replace a 9sp one. Unfortunately, on White Industries hubs you cannot just replace the cassette carrier.

... Basically the deal is that if you have a light that is distracting and causes the driver to focus on the light rather than the road, the driver, especially if impaired (drunk or stoned), is more likely to drive into the light rather than avoid it. Unfortunately, the light that alerts a typical driver to your location from a long distance can also be the one that will attract the drunk driver to plow into you - like a moth to a flame. If I owned a Dinotte I would set it to non-flash to not be so distracting. This is the same way I ride with my two Planet Bike Super Flashes when we ride at night. Your results may vary. Stay safe.

Perhaps, but at the risk of hijacking the thread, I would like to see data to support this. I think flashing is safer.

It seems to me that FLASHING says "BEWARE" even to a drunk. A solid bright red light might just say "motorcycle," which someone impaired would assume is in the main driving lane and doing the speed limit.

When they realized too late that you are not doing the speed limit, slow reaction time might make it too late for you.

Fact of the matter is, there is no "sure thing." I'm placing my $ on flashing lights, front and rear.

Perhaps, but at the risk of hijacking the thread,

Ya think? How about just starting a new thread....

Swapped out our FSA 42 tooth middle and 54 tooth large chainring for 39 and 50 tooth rings respectively. The 30 tooth small was changed out last year for a TA 26 tooth ring.We're planning on doing about the same thing to our Speedster, although we have Race Face and we might go with a 52 big ring.

Recent past purchases: Tires! It's wonderful to need new tires. And we've added front and rear blinkies which are on all the time in daylight. White in front, of course. At night we burn steady in the front plus the smaller blinky.

While auto-bound, we once met a rando rider, at night, with an enormously bright front flashing light. We couldn't figure out what the @#$% it was or where it was for way too long a time. Something about the flashing blinding us and the thing appearing and disappearing, so we couldn't range it. Freaky. Sorry, TG.

Well, to help keep the thread from veering off again, I'll post something I bought for my tandem.

A Profile Design E-Pack (http://www.profile-design.com/profile-design/products/hydration/all-hydration/e-pack.html). These are often called Bento Boxes, and are used a lot by triathletes. The idea is that with its placement on the top tube, aerodynamically shielded by the head and steering tube, its top-loading velcro closure allows a rider to gain one-handed access to bonk-preventing food and electrolytes (or cell phones or whatever).

It will work for the captain, but it might not work for many stokers, as if the stem attaches too low on the captain's seatpost, there may not be sufficient clearance between the stoker's stem and the top tube. A stoker has resort to a captain's saddlebag for the same purposes, but these generally close with a zipper, are not top-loading, and so are not so easily accessed.

http://www.pricepoint.com/images/styleImages/D_010%20PROEP6.jpg

The Bento Box TRZ (http://www.tniusa.com/products/) model might work better for stokers, as it slopes downward as the stoker stem slopes upward.

http://www.tniusa.com/images/bb_trz_blue.jpg

Actually, I'm looking for a new recumbent tandem to hang my pedals from my Santana onto.

Most recently a Brooks b17 saddle, and one of the previously mentioned "Bento boxes" for the cell phone (mounted for stoker access).

"Bento boxes" for the cell phone (mounted for stoker access).

So, on your bike, is there sufficient clearance between the stoker stem and the top tube? Does it work well for the cell phone storage/access? A pic would be nice.

Last purchase was a set of 26" Velocity Aeroheat, custom laced up for us by this gentleman.

http://www.youngwheels.com/

Not only does the Burley now ride like a new bike...... with new pads on the brakes, and the new wheels, it is a whole new experience.

Inspired by this tread, we just ordered a Dinotte 400 tail light.

"What did you just buy for your tandem?"

A second tandem to keep it company in the garage during the week.

Tandem #2 is the process of being converted from road to hybrid with flat bars & thumb shifters. We'll use it for trails, trips to the grocery store & dog park and as a loaner for folks who ask "what's a good way to see if my wife/SO/kid would be interested in riding tandem without dropping large coin on a bike of our own."

So, on your bike, is there sufficient clearance between the stoker stem and the top tube? Does it work well for the cell phone storage/access? A pic would be nice.

On our tandem there is plenty of clearance, we're set up as a hybrid and use flat bars so we ride a bit more upright. We easily fit a cell phone and a digital camera (Nikon Cool pix) for quick stoker access. I do have a pic unfortunately it is on my home PC.

Big upgrade this year for the '93 7 speed (12-28) freewheeled Santana Visa:
New wheels-used old front Suzue hub with new Phil bearings, and New 9 speed Shimano hub. Velocity Dyad rims.
9 speed bar end shifters, 11-32 cassette and new ultegra drive chain-runs perfectly with old 7 spd chainrings and derailleurs, although I will be going to a 12-34 and new xtr mega derailleur. Needed to cold-set the rear drop-outs from 140 to 145 mm.
XTR v-brakes front and rear with problem solver adapters-very nice upgrade over origional weak, no-name cantilevers.
Utilized my old hydro-post stoker stem that was on my old Burley. I don't know if these are still available, but my stoker loves it. Much plusher then elastomers, without any bounciness.
Replaced origional 110 mm cast, fixed, Santana stoker stem with 140 mm Oval technologies adjustable stem with shim. My wife is a little on the tall side for our medium tandem, and this allows much more upward height adjustment then the origional with its shallow angle.
It weighs in at an even 40 lbs-almost exactly what it weighed before.
This really breathed new life into the old girl (the bike, not my wife)!

New purchase-

http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/catalog/medium/FHM756AZL.jpg

Shimano XT M756 36 Hole 6 bolt disc compatible rear hub. I kind of wanted silver but apparently they are rarer than unicorns in the US so black it is.

No one believes me that my tandem really does use a {mountain bike** standard 135mm rear spacing but I've measured it twice using calipers. Convenient for poor people like me since mountain bike parts are a lot cheaper than tandem specific (145mm and wider hubs). This will be laced to a Sun Rhyno Lite hoop that I do not own yet.

I am a little nervous about dropping from the stock [cheapo] 48 spoke wheel to a 36 spoke because my wife and I are a pretty heavy team but I've been told that build quality and quality of the components is far more important than the number of spokes. The wheel is being built because I discovered that the stock rear axle was slightly bent. I believe the previous owner of the tandem may have been the one who bent the axle as it was very slight and took me a while to diagnose. Upon further research I discovered that for heavy teams like my wife and I, a freehub body and cassette are preferred over the thread-on freewheel we were using since they keep the bearings farther outboard and put less stress on the middle of the axle. I went ahead and replaced the bent axle and I'll keep the stock wheel set in case I ever sell this tandem I can keep the nicer wheel for a new tandem or my mountain bike which currently runs (non-XT) Deore hubs. That is partly why I ordered a disc hub for a non-disc braked bike; it gives me options.

This will be laced to a Sun Rhyno Lite hoop that I do not own yet.

It's kind of a change in topic but, if it was my bike (and it's not), I would seriously consider using a Velocity Aeroheat rim. The thing that I don't like about Rhyno Lites is they are HARD to install tires onto.

FWIW, when I rebuilt the wheels for my tandem I used Dyads, the 700c version of Aeroheats. They were the truest rims that I have ever laced. After tensioning the wheels I had almost no trueing to do.

It's kind of a change in topic but, if it was my bike (and it's not), I would seriously consider using a Velocity Aeroheat rim. The thing that I don't like about Rhyno Lites is they are HARD to install tires onto.

Thanks for the tip; I'll look into that. I'm not dead-set on using the Rhyno Lites, I'm just looking for decent rim that will support the abuse that we will certainly throw at it and they seemed to be popular.

It's kind of a change in topic but, if it was my bike (and it's not), I would seriously consider using a Velocity Aeroheat rim. The thing that I don't like about Rhyno Lites is they are HARD to install tires onto.

FWIW, when I rebuilt the wheels for my tandem I used Dyads, the 700c version of Aeroheats. They were the truest rims that I have ever laced. After tensioning the wheels I had almost no trueing to do.
Odd. We have Aeroheats on our Bilenky, and Rhyno Lites on the kids' Santana. I've replaced tires on both (within a few days of each other) and didn't notice all that much difference. Perhaps it was the tires.

I thought Aeroheads were the 700c version of Aeroheats. But it isn't clear from the web site. The Aeroheads and the Dyads do look a lot alike.

Tandem #2... as a loaner for folks who ask "what's a good way to see if my wife/SO/kid would be interested in riding tandem without dropping large coin on a bike of our own."

When we get our new tandem we plan to retain our 1991 Burley Rock 'N Roll largely as a guest tandem. With tandems, there is a lot of latent interest. People who might be interested in a tandem, but haven't ever tried one. We think it will be fun to invite tandem-naive friends out on rides. I've not seen it discussed here, but I wonder if others here have second tandems for guest rides?

When we get our new tandem we plan to retain our 1991 Burley Rock 'N Roll largely as a guest tandem. With tandems, there is a lot of latent interest. People who might be interested in a tandem, but haven't ever tried one. We think it will be fun to invite tandem-naive friends out on rides. I've not seen it discussed here, but I wonder if others here have second tandems for guest rides?

We've got some close personal friends who always have a spare tandem or two in their garage. The only problem is he's around 6'7" and she's over 6' so nobody else can ride their bikes.

but I wonder if others here have second tandems for guest rides?

When we got our second tandem last year I debated what to do with the original and I believe I did do a post on the merits of keeping around for other interested parties or selling while it has it greatest value. In the end I decided to keep the bike as a guest tandem and backup if the #1 ride is in for repairs. In 12 months I have had 4 couples take me up on my offer of loaning the bike. 1 couple regularly joins us on rides using our back up tandem another couple seems pretty interested in getting more involved.

While I have not used the tandem for my own back up yet it seems to make sense to keep it for that purpose.

Hmmm Recently..

In Oct or November, switched from the TA Specialites 28t inner chaining to a Salsa 28t due to "load holding" issues on the TA.

For Xmas: My stoker got me (us) a Garmin Edge 500 with HR + Cadence.

...switched from the TA Specialites 28t inner chaining to a Salsa 28t due to "load holding" issues on the TA.

Hmmm...my Lightning crank sports TA Chainrings (http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?id=1775), the inner chainring is 30T. Are these load holding issues experienced on places like Bohlman with a 17% grade? What is the deficiency in the TA, and what makes the Salsa better?

http://harriscyclery.net/merchant/370/images/large/crt74.jpg http://www.bikeman.com/store/graphics/00000001/Alt-imageB/CR/CR0445B.jpg

11. This tread is interesting on its own and also because it has inspired so many high jacking attempts... from tail lights, to rims, to spare tandems, to chain rings... I like it.

11. This tread is interesting on its own and also because it has inspired so many high jacking attempts... from tail lights, to rims, to spare tandems, to chain rings... I like it.

I don't think the thread is hijacked if discussing the particulars of the item purchased. For example, the relative brightness of the Dinotte in comparison to PB Superflash, or the stiffness of TA inner Chainrings vs. Salsa's, these are directly discussing the product. http://www.cool-smileys.com/images/248.gif (http://www.cool-smileys.com/smiley-saying-nice-thread)

If the thread goes tangential to the product purchased, for example discussing the reaction of inebriated drivers to a bright light, now that there is hijack! http://www.cool-smileys.com/images/147.gif (http://www.cool-smileys.com/smiley-that-says-thread-hijacked)

11. This tread is interesting on its own and also because it has inspired so many high jacking attempts...

I guess hijacks are par for the course. Anytime we discuss what we got, others will want to share their opinions about those items. As long as things stay civil it's all good. You know what they say about opinions.

And yes... this is a hijack to discuss hijacks.

11. This tread is interesting on its own and also because it has inspired so many high jacking attempts... from tail lights, to rims, to spare tandems, to chain rings... I like it.

Hmmmm. So is discussing high jacking attempts in a thread about buying stuff a high jacking attempt?

136220Vented disc brake and just this month a custom high rise carbon stoker stem, after one year the build is complete!
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One Thudbuster ST seatpost
Two sets Eleganza Blue Ribbon bar tape
One Third Eye mirror; suitable for right sided eyeglass mounting

"
as a loaner for folks who ask "what's a good way to see if my wife/SO/kid would be interested in riding tandem without dropping large coin on a bike of our own."

This was exactly how we were introduced to tandems, I applaud you for being ambassadors... In our case we struck up a conversation with a tandem team on an organized "town tour" ride and they offered to take us on a tandem training run with their extra tandem (they actually had 3 tandems in the garage).

Chris King bottom brackets on the Supremo along w/ all new gears and chains. We use a Salsa 26t ring with zero problems and it's very steep around here

Hmmm...my Lightning crank sports TA Chainrings (http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?id=1775), the inner chainring is 30T. Are these load holding issues experienced on places like Bohlman with a 17% grade? What is the deficiency in the TA, and what makes the Salsa better?

http://harriscyclery.net/merchant/370/images/large/crt74.jpg
http://www.bikeman.com/store/graphics/00000001/Alt-imageB/CR/CR0445B.jpg

It seemed that anything over 15% or so (even just for a moment) would result in the chain just skipping over the teeth... You would be pedaling, grade goes steeper and pop... pedal... pop. The tooth profiles could not hold the chain under extreme load. Maybe I got a bad TA? I don't know... BUT the teeth on the Salsa are much taller and more "square."

Switching to the Salsa cured the problem. There were so significant weight or shifting penalties going with the Salsa.

TA has good reports usually, so if they are working for you than I wouldn't worry about it. Also 30t makes a difference. Our 30t FSA ring also works perfectly.

Sram Red Shifters
Sram XX Rear Drlr
Sram XX 11-36 Cassette
FSA 42x55 Chainrings
FSA K-Wing Bars x2
Zero Gravity Brakes
New Chains all Around
The Machiatto now weighs 27.2 pounds ready to ride....2 pairs of pedals, 4 cages etc. Am in the process of making a custom titanium stoker stem as well.

Zero Gravity Brakes


Ciamillo (http://cycling.ciamillo.com/)'s 168 gm ZG (http://aebike.com/product/zero-gravity-ciamillo-168g-road-caliper-set-sku-br0100-qc30.htm) calipers would be a bit wimpy for a tandem. Do you have the more robust 198 gm Negative G's (http://aebike.com/product/zero-gravity-ciamillo-negative-g-ti-198g-road-caliper-set-sku-br0101-qc30.htm)?

Have you found that your ZG (or NG) calipers have sufficient stopping power for your Machiatto? In the Velo News caliper review, the NG's had a deceleration of 8.52 m/s^2, which was one of the stronger brakes tested.

http://www.cycleco.com/ProductImages/negativeG_double.gif

We use the Negative G's. The bike had Record 10 Skeleton's on it before whice worked good but the Zero G's work great. Better modulation and much more stopping power. We are not a super light team and have no issues getting the bike stopped.

Not exactly "just bought", but still relevant even if sideways:

Detours-brand "Goodie Two" bartop bag. Held on with a big o-ring-like rubber band; doesn't slip off to the side; can slide it back and forth on the top tube. Gel package and energy bar shown for scale. They have a smaller "Goodie Bag" as well. Comes in several colors, might find one to coordinate with your bike. If Captain's seat was farther above Stoker's bar, could mount on the Stoker Stem. Also useful for Captain. Does not need / does not have the strap/band to go around the stem/headtube.

On the lateral tube:
Cage Rocket, for spare tubes, tire levers, mini-tool, latex gloves, etc.
Click-Stand, attached to bike with one of those mount-under-the-bottle-cage pump holders, with the velcro straps.


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