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-   -   Silly Ad (https://www.bikeforums.net/tandem-cycling/405973-silly-ad.html)

brewer45 04-09-08 12:22 PM

Silly Ad
 
I like the fact that the Bike Forums sell ad space, and I often click the links because I know that it generates money for the site. But this one that popped up made me laugh:

Ads by Google: Two Person Tandem Bikes
Quality Bikes At Affordable Prices, w/ Fast Shipping & Huge Selection.


Nope. Sorry. I was looking for a One Person Tandem Bike...

Cheers!

Brewer

P.S. It took me a while to learn that going to Nashbar or Performance using the links in the coupon section also generates money for the site. For the other Newbies and Junior Users, just click on the Coupons link at the top of the page.

TandemGeek 04-09-08 12:34 PM

Actually, it's not as silly as you may think... There are, in fact, two person, three person, four person, and five person tandems.

A tandem bicycle is any bicycle were the riders sit one-behind-the-other and include three-seat tandems, (triplets), four-seat (quads), five-seat (quints), six-seat (hex or sextuplet) all the way up to the ten-seat Oriten tandem:

http://www.colcohist-gensoc.org/Imag...aterOriten.jpg

You can find more information on multiseat tandems here: http://www.thetandemlink.com/Triplets.html

swc7916 04-09-08 01:36 PM

Everytime I see this photo, I wonder the same thing: The chainrings increase in size from the front to the back and they seem to linked together on the drive side - So how did they get them in sync for this photo?

brewer45 04-09-08 01:48 PM

makes me wonder how a single captain could possibly keep 9 stokers happy!?!

I have always thought that the word "tandem" implied two. So prompted by TG's answer, I looked it up. Sure enough--means a team of two or more working together, typically one behind the other.

TandemGeek 04-09-08 01:48 PM


Originally Posted by swc7916 (Post 6490052)
Everytime I see this photo, I wonder the same thing: The chainrings increase in size from the front to the back and they seem to linked together on the drive side - So how did they get them in sync for this photo?

From a previous posting...

It's hard to see, but all of the cranksets other than the captains are doubles such that there are 9 pair of equal size timing rings connecting the 9 synch chains connecting the 10 riders: this keeps them all in sync. The size of the timing rings is progressively increased to reduce the load on each subsequent sync chain to deal with the progressively higher torque that each rider adds to the final drive.

The progressively larger timing rings ability to reduce the stress on the individual sync chain rings would have also helped to reduce the bending (wind-up) effect that the entire right side of the Oriten experienced when being pedalled under load given that all of the sync chains were on the same side of the tandem.

Also not evident in most photos are a collection of wire stringers and riggings attached to the frame and that were most likely added to help manage the massive frame flex this thing likely developed.

swc7916 04-09-08 03:06 PM

I guess I can see that if each timing chain connects two chainrings of the same size then the cranks will stay in sync. The part about reducing the load on the chain is not intuitive to me, however. I seems to me that with no reduction in gearing from rider to rider - since they are all in sync - the tension in each successive timing chain will be the sum of the force applied by all of the previous riders, regardless of the size of the rings. I can see how larger rings would engage more links and spread the load on the links that were actually being driven by the chainring. If you didn't do that, you might strip teeth off of the rear rings or break the links that were engaged. As far as wind-up is concerned, I don't see how larger rings make any difference.

TandemGeek 04-09-08 06:48 PM


Originally Posted by swc7916 (Post 6490673)
As far as wind-up is concerned, I don't see how larger rings make any difference.

The timing ring acts as a lever at the point where the chain engages the timing ring and the pull exterted on a tandem's sync chain by the timing rings has an inverse and proportional relationship to the size of the rings. That being the case, as the lever (timing ring ) gets longer, the tension / pulling force on the the chain is reduced. Therefore, and in response to your question, as chain rings become larger the bending forces exerted on the boob tube are reduced as is wear and tear on the bottom bracket spindles & bearings.

specialist 04-15-08 01:52 AM

I can't see any brakes, is it a fixed gear too?!

transam 04-15-08 03:19 AM

How much would that bike weigh?

TandemGeek 04-15-08 04:01 AM


Originally Posted by transam (Post 6520446)
How much would that bike weigh?

305 pounds

deanack 04-15-08 10:02 AM

Is it the same one that is at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI?

TandemGeek 04-15-08 11:36 AM

Yes. It's the only one in existence. It was built by the Orient Bicycle Company as a promotional tool, hence the name: Ori-ten. I believe it may be hanging from the ceiling, which really is a shame.

StephenH 04-15-08 11:52 AM

I've noticed on Ebay that people try to include all the synonyms they can so that a search will turn it up better. Maybe what they're doing here.

swc7916 04-15-08 10:55 PM

There is another 10-person tandem in existence:

-----Original Message-----

Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:03:00
To:togawestside@gmail.com
Subject: Tandem Bicycle

I know that this was a long time ago, but when I
visited New York City in 1983 there was a multi-person
tandem bicycle hanging from the ceiling of your store
on West End Ave. Do you still have that bicycle? How
many people does it seat? Thanks for indulging my curiosity.

Answer:

We do still have the bike. It's currently at our Nyack, NY location on
display. To answer your question, it seats 10 people and is built
with motorcycle wheels and front fork (it weighs close to 160 pounds!) If
you have more questions, let me know.
Thanks,
Mike Bleakley
Toga Bikes
212-799-9625

TandemGeek 04-16-08 04:10 AM


Originally Posted by swc7916 (Post 6526871)
There is another 10-person tandem in existence

No doubt... as are tandems with even more seats used to set various records or, again, as promotional items (see below).

Perhaps I worded my post poorly, as there was to the best of my knowledge only one Oriten built and it is the one that most have seen in photos. It was different from many of the other multiseat promotional tandems in that it was a fully functional machine ridden long distances on public roads and the like, hence the significant heft of the machine.

Record for Longest Bike: Back in 2002 a new record was set for the 'longest bicycle (a tandem) when Teije Meier and Jan Bart Brink, students at the University of Delft in Amsterdam, rode a 92' long tandem 100 yards.

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/.../rhp/97497.jpg

There were just two riders at either end of the 90' long bike. The previous record was held by a group of 40 cyclists from Italy's Super Tandem Club Ceparana who, in 1998, rode an 85-foot long bicycle built for 40 the prerequisite 380' or so.

http://www.4to40.com/images/recordbo...st_bicycle.jpg

Didi Senft, better known as the guy dressed like the Devil who appears at the major professional bike races in Europe, holds the record for the world's 'largest' tandem.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/20...-tandem-61.jpg


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