Tandem Cycling - wanting to upgrade

we now have a burley duet but are wanting to upgrade ---is a cannondale road bike 2 that much better and we have heard horror stories about alum breaking ---is this a problem --we ride mostly rails to trails and hwy but some of them are getting pretty rough------also does any co. make bicycle patches for jackets about tandems or century rides----have not found any online

The Cannondale Road Bike 2 is famous for being a great value. Robust aluminum frame, decent components, all for $3000. Don't worry about it breaking. It has dual discs, you can upgrade and lighten up considerably by ditching the front disc fork, and using a carbon fork with calipers.

Heard from Mark at Precision Tandems in October of last year that he'd seen problems about ten years ago.

"When it comes to my experience with Cannondale...... it's not all that good with a history of frame cracks (20 of them out of 29 that I knew of but back in the late 90's and early 00's) that cannot be repaired."

We've only got about 3k miles on our 2010 Street Tandem, but it's certainly been rock solid.

Do take note of the eccentric issue discussed on this forum (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?669947-Cannondale-2010-Eccentric-BB-crap) a bit ago. Don't know if Cdale has dealt with it, but if you buy from Tandems East, it gets retrofitted without you even knowing about it.

Aluminum gains reliability thru Not Flexing, thats why the tubes got fat, that stiffness means the aluminum doesn't flex

enough flexing cycles and aluminum cracks ..

suspension seatposts all around ..

Aluminum gains reliability thru Not Flexing, thats why the tubes got fat, that stiffness means the aluminum doesn't flex

enough flexing cycles and aluminum cracks ..

suspension seatposts all around ..

While tandems and singles are certainly different, I've been riding a Cannondale T700 for over 15 years including a number of multi-week tours. Haven't had any issue with a "hard ride" or any cracks in the frame. Also have a steel road bike and, while it certainly flexes more, I haven't noticed any significant difference . . . of course I might not be very sensitive to it either. Now, the stoker may feel differently so yes, a sprung saddle or seat post might be best for the back seat.

John

Look into the tandems offered by Co-Motion. A huge variety. Excellent quality.
Owned a custom Co-Mo years ago and put 57,000 miles on it and then sold it.

I ride a C'dale road tandem and think that the ride is not harsh at all. There is no suspension seat posts on it and see no need for them. I am usually the captain but have ridden as stoker and find the ride comfort on the back to be good as well. Almost any half bike rides harder IMO.

We rode a Cannondale for many years and had no problems. Nice bike. Not harsh until it's put up against a nice steel bike, ar a butted aluminum bike.