I have a Sanata Sovereign and I am considering upgrading the stock Cr-Mo fork to a Reynolds Ouzo Pro tandem fork. Does anybody have any experience / opinions about these forks and what benefits will i get for $500 besides saving 1 lb in weight? Is this a worthwhile upgrade that will result in a noticable improvement? I also need a new head set, the one I have is worn out. Considering Chris King 1.25". Any others that are good?

Thanks

IMHO, Chris King is the only headset to put on a tandem... They're not cheap, but they'll outlast your tandem. FSA, Cane Creek, and others also sell cartridge bearing headsets but I prefer to line Chris King's pockets... cool company that has been supporting the tandem community with great headsets and hubs for many years.

Reynolds Ouzo Pro tandem fork? You get the weight savings, some will report that they find it stiffer and/or more comfortable than their cro-mo forks (they are very stiff and the 'feeling' has more to do with the weight reduction than anything magical about carbon), they give an otherwise stock tandem a tricked-out look, and often times allow folks who have a front V-brake and a rear disc to replace the V-brake and Travel Agent adapter with a far superior front caliper brake.

Carbon does offer damping qualitites that are especially noticeable when negotiating rough pavement. The Reynolds has nice handling characteristics as well, and will save you some weight. I have one, and the improvements nn ride and handling were significant over the stock steel on my Cdale. The fork on your Santana is probably better than that one... Really good steel is better than junk carbon for a fork- I put a Profile carbon on my old COlnago Master XL and put the steel fork right back on. BUT!!! the Reynolds is the best carbon out there, not a junker.

Questions about the Reynolds:

Does anybody know what size tires will clear?Does it take a short reach caliper brake on a standard(long) reach caliper?

Thanks,dan

To the best of my knowledge it will take at least a 28mm tire and is limited more by the tire capacity of the caliper brakes than the wheel arch opening. They use traditional 39mm to 49mm "short" reach calipers, not the 49mm to 57mm "standard" reach Shimano R550 or R600.

https://www.reynoldscomposites.com/OuzoProTandem.asp

Thanks Tandemgeek

Does anybody make a carbon fork with fat tire clearance that accepts a long reach caliper brake?I know there are some canti brake style out there,but I prefer calipers.

Thanks,dan

Trek's T2000 will apparently be fitted with a Bontrager carbon fork for '06 and comes standard with Shimano's R600 standard reach calipers. The fork uses a 1.125" steerer and, unless they changed their stock geometry, has ~55mm of rake, ala Santana & Burley's baseline tandems yielding between 1.9" (Med/Lrg) and 2.0" (Small only) of trail.

True Temper have said they can adjust their Alpha Q X2's fork leg lengths a few mm as a custom order but you would still be constrained by the very narrow wheel arch with respect to running tires much wider than 25mm.

However, I suspect if this is something that True Temper "will do", it may also be something Reynolds and/or Wound-Up "could do". Your best bet would be to call them and ask. Their tandem fork is produced with 45mm of rake, which is at the far end of the world from the Reynolds & Trek forks in terms of how they would alter the handling of the same tandem.

My reynolds takes V brakes and will handle tires up to about 35 I'd say. I've got 28s in there and there's plenty of clearance.

our tandem has the wound up carbon fork and it really is nice. i rode our same bike(da vinci) with the stock steel fork and can tell you that the wound up carbon fork makes a big difference is how the bike handles and feels(comfort). i own a merlin extralight which has the reynolds ouzo pro fork and it works great too, but have not ridden a tandem with a reynolds carbon fork
bob