View Full Version : Full suspension MTB Tandem - What do we get????
Hi
We will be relocating to Mozambique soon to do a roads project for the next two years. Our road tandem will not be suitable there. We are looking at a full suspension MTB tandem. Only one we can find in RSA is the Ventana. This bike is way to expensive for us. Are there any cheaper options available as framesets that one could look at importing. M is insistent that she wants a full suspension tandem.
Thanx in advance
H
Maelstrom
03-20-05, 10:38 AM
the only other one I know of is by Nicolai which is pretty expensive as well.
zonatandem
03-20-05, 10:52 AM
Goeden Dag Big H!
Other options could be a mountain bike tandem that you can retrofit a suspension fork to, and shock absorbing seatposts, front and rear.
Burley made Allsop beamed tandems until early 2004 on their Samba and Rock 'n Roll mt. bike models. By adding a suspension fork, it could solve your problem at less cost than a Ventana.
Have ridden the Allsop beamed tandems and they are really great for shock absorbtion for the stoker.
Also,there used to be shock absorbing stems on the market, but unfortunately those have disappeared.
Good luck in M'bique!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy & Kay/Zonatandem/USA
TandemGeek
03-21-05, 07:32 AM
That's a tough one. IMHO, Ventana remains the "best value" in off-road F/S tandem frames. Boulder, Ellsworth, Chumba-Wumba, daVinci and a few other boutique builders (e.g., Intense) have built F/S frames, but they're more expensive than the Ventana. You may find a few different models still being offered in the European market on Chris Timm's Website: http://tandem-fahren.de/Mitglieder/Christoph_Timm/builders.html#FS
The models that come immediately to mind were produced by Schauff of Germany back in '03 under their "Soil" brand name but I'm not sure if they are still available. Univega also produced a pretty nice F/S tandem.
I'm not sure how good your French or German is, but you might want to post a notice to the Tandem boards in France & Germany to see if any second hand F/S bikes might be available:
http://www.tandemvtt.com/
http://tandem-fahren.de/
Give me a few beers und ich kanne sprechen any language!!!!!!
Rincewind8
03-21-05, 11:03 AM
Give me a few beers und ich kanne sprechen any language!!!!!!
...and I pitcher speak... ???!
hmmm, pitcher and beer kind of go well together. :D
but "...und ich kann jede Sprache sprechen!!!" is better.
;)
Sorry ... what can I say, my German is very verrrry verrrrrry elementary. Enough to make me understood.... or get into trouble???????
TandemGeek
03-21-05, 11:28 AM
Sorry ... what can I say, my German is very verrrry verrrrrry elementary. Enough to make me understood.... or get into trouble???????
On the bright side, most of those folks speak/write excellent English so if you can find the link to their forums you're in.
zonatandem
03-21-05, 11:55 AM
Big H:
Knowing Suid-Afrikaans will let you get to catch some of the German!
Heck, English was my 5th language.
Moving to Mozambique for a few years (formerly known as Portuguese East Africa)
you may be acquiring another language!
Koga/Miyata (Holland) makes a heavy full suspension machine that even folds!
Rudy/Zonatandem
Phil from VA
03-21-05, 06:47 PM
It would be easier to give a suggestion if you could give us your price range.
Rudy
The situation ios even worse than you think...... the Contractor is CHINESE!!!!!! Not only will I have to learn the indigenous languages an Portugues but also Chinese.... this all sounds Greek to me!!!!!!
stapfam
03-23-05, 02:15 PM
Goeden Dag Big H!
Other options could be a mountain bike tandem that you can retrofit a suspension fork to, and shock absorbing seatposts, front and rear.
Burley made Allsop beamed tandems until early 2004 on their Samba and Rock 'n Roll mt. bike models. By adding a suspension fork, it could solve your problem at less cost than a Ventana.
Have ridden the Allsop beamed tandems and they are really great for shock absorbtion for the stoker.
Also,there used to be shock absorbing stems on the market, but unfortunately those have disappeared.
Good luck in M'bique!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy & Kay/Zonatandem/USA
I ride a hardtail Dale MT2000. Front forks are Rockshox Boxer Race with the hardest springs fitted. I currently use a conventional suspension Seat post, but Tried a cane creek Thudbuster on another Tandem a few months ago. As stoker on a mountain Tandem that is ridden aggressively, This is definitley one way to go. The Thud buster works and works exceptionally well, and never even felt the saddle over a 20 mile ride. Only thing is, suspension for rough ground is not the only thing to think about. I have a set of Downhill quality wheels fitted and they are definitely top of my list for any mountain bike, in preference to any other "Comfort" modifications. These wheels are Mavic Downhill rims 36 spoke onto Hope Bigun hubs. I have 2 sets of wheels that have each covered 2,000 miles and are still perfectly true and tensioned correctly.Admittedly one pair needed tweaking for true a couple of months ago, but that is not bad for wheels that have taken some real punishment.
zonatandem
03-23-05, 04:52 PM
Big H:
Chinese? Portugese? Greek?
Ik moet lachen!!!
Tot ziens!
Rudy
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