ezee2

My wife and I both ride road bikes and mtd bikes. The majority of our riding is on our road bikes and when we do ride our mtd bike we ride mostly on gravel roads or very ez single or double tracks. Because we very greatly in our average speed whether its road or mtd riding we are considering a tandem. Most of our tandam riding would be on paved roads with less riding on gravel roads. We have been offered a Burley rock & roll tandem mtd bike almost new for $400.00. Is this a reasonable price? Will we regret not getting a road tandem instead of the mtd tandem. We don't plan on using this for anything other than just fun and exercise since we already have our single bikes. Thanks for the help.

zonatandem

The Burley R&R was at one time their top of the line 26" wheeled tandem.
For like-new that's a hell of a good price . . . if it fits!
You can always put slick 26" tires on it.
Heck it would cost you $50 just to rent a tandem for the weekend!
If you don't like it, you can re-sell it and really not lose any $.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

mwandaw

I think that you will enjoy the tandem, because you will always be riding with your best friend!

Your plan to ride mostly on road, with some gravel roads makes sense. I think that a tandem will be too big for a real mountain bike ride.

You may want to look for a tire like the stock tire on our Trek T900. It has no tread right in the middle, for easy on-road rides, and it has some small knobs on the edges. That way, if the tire sinks into the ground a little, and/or if you lower the tire pressure, you'll have some traction.

Enjoy!

Ritterview

Well, since we have had a Burley Rock 'N Roll for two decades now, and now have a road tandem, I think I can answer. Specs here.

The Rock 'N Roll has 26" wheels, that will accomodate 1.25" 'city' tires such as the Specialized FatBoy or the Panaracer RibMo. Thus clad, the Rock 'N Roll can move pretty well on the road. We managed to average 16.7 mph on a local ride. A nice thing is the cushy ride these tires provide.

We now use the Burley as our city bike. We'll tool down into town and lock it up without inordinate worry, or tow our Westies, Snowy and Lily, on a Bob cart.

We'd do a 50 mile, relatively flat ride on the Burley no problem. I don't think I'd do a century on it, or tackle a lot of hills. But for $400 in good condition, it will plenty of fun. A nice road tandem would probably be preferable, but finding one for $400 may not be that easy.

zonatandem

Have ridden many tandems including Burleys. Did do a 50 miler on Burley R&R and it was fine.
We aer more accustomed to road tandems with drop bars, so the lack of hand positons on the flat bars on the R&R was a limiting factor. You could install Onza type extensions for more hand positions or spend more $$ and switch to full drop bars, if you so desire.
Have seen several R&Rs set up with drop bars/shifters setup.
Put in an offer of $100 less and see what happens . . .
Enjoy the ride TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

ezee2

Thanks guys I'll let you know what happens.

wheelspeed

Test ride it first. My g/f and I were the same as you... rode both mtb and road but she prefers road, so we do more of that together.

We rented a 26"-wheel mtb on a canal path one day and loved it. A year later we test rode another 26"-wheel mtb on some rodes with some hills and hated it. So, a leisurely "date" riding the tandem on a flat canal path one was thing, but on the open road with hills was completely different for us.

Now we found a road-bike tandem and love it. I'm nervous about punctures on jogging paths and gravel roads, but so far it's been okay on its 28C tires. Of course, we can never try single or double-track with it. Also, heavy-loaded touring probably wouldn't be the best on it, but that was okay with us for now.

My advice is to try both types before buying one.

professorbob

At that price make sure it's not stolen or has a cracked/broken frame. Have it carefully inspected by a good mechanic. The money you spend on an inspection in addition to the price of the bike will still put you into the "incredible bargain" category.

gracehowler

We ran 26x2.25 slicks for that style of riding, gravel, 2 track, liked the softer ride but it was doggy on pavement, not sure the Burley can take a tire that large. Agree with Zona, you can't lose, try it
R&J