Rambetter

Hi guys!
Just bought an old tandem from the original owner.

https://porky.nerius.com/temp/tandem.jpg

It's a 1987 model. Don't have a camera so I can't take pictures of the actual bike, but it's in fantastic condition with 5500 miles! The owner was a meticulous mechanic so most stuff is well taken care of.

Of course it has the usual "problems", i.e. 27 inch wheels and thread-on freewheel, but I plan to keep it mostly original. It's pretty much original now.

Going on first ride tomorrow!

zonatandem

Enjoy the ride TWOgether!

veggie

Welcome to the world of tandem!

MNBikeCommuter

Congrats! Yeah, 5500 miles is barely broken in. :-)

Ritterview

Aha, its a Santana.




And rotated:



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CaptainHaddock

Welcome! With only 5.5k miles, you've only to change the tires and away you go!

ksisler

Note that on 08 Sept 2012 I saw on Peter White's site that he now has new production tandem rims in stock in 27 inch diameter. It might be wise to grab a pair or maybe even have him string up a pair of built wheels with a dyno front hub, etc., while parts are available. Far easier fix that converting the bike to run some other size wheel (which would still have to be bought) as the conversion often has "oh, we didn't think about that" kind of secondary effects.

Rambetter

Funny thing is that I spoke to Peter Whte on the phone a few days ago. He was very nice in talking to me for quite a while, and offered lots of advice.

His primary advice was: "Sell it and buy a new Comotion!". Lol. It's just that 27 inch wheels and the thread-on freewheel are becoming old. And I don't plan on changing either one of these systems. Peter really thinks that freewheels will fail going uphill, which is probably true. I have 2 Dura Ace freewheels (7 speed) - one on there now and a brand new one I got with the bike. Anyhow, I'm not going to go with Peter's advice. I'm not going to sell the tandem. This is a bit like owning an old Maserati - people will appreciate what you have when you're on the road. I stopped by my favorite bike shop, and when one of the employees, Sam, saw the bike, he asked how much I paid for it. After I told him, his eyes popped out, then I clarified that I had received advice from Peter to sell the bike. His first response was "I'll buy it!". Lol.

Yes ksisler, I also found the 48 hole Velocity Dyad 27 inch rims on Peter White's website. In fact I found 2 other places that sell these exact or similar rims. I don't think there is an immediate threat to these rims becoming extinct. I will worry about it a year down the road I think.

My next 2 big projects on this bike are to find a suitable stoker bar (see other thread I started) and improve the drivetrain. The original "deer head" Deore XT rear derailleur is on there now and frankly it's making me nervous. Original Suntour bar-end friction shifters are on there now too. I happen to own a pair of Shimano 600 7 speed bar-end index shifters (rare from what I can tell), and plan on putting those on the bike. I have already ordered a 60 dollar Deore brand new rear derailleur, and these two things, along with the 7 speed Dura Ace freewheel which has 5mm cog spacing, should give me perfect index shifting.

One thing however is making me slightly nervous regarding these drivetrain upgrades that I'm planning. I am of course going to change all cables and cable housings. Now the modern stuff is 4mm in diameter (cable housing) for the shifting and 5mm for the braking. The "cable stops" on the frame are just barely over 5mm in diameter, so a normal brake housing with end cap (or "ferrule") is just over 6mm, which won't fit into the cable stops on the frame. So my plan is, skip the end caps for brake cable housing, but I do need the end caps for shifter cable housings. Where can I find a nice ferrule that has 4mm inner diameter and a very small outer diameter? I want to get these things to fit as well as possible.

Actually I'd like to buy ferrules of several sizes, because I have ends that come into the shifters, rear derailleur, frame cable stops, etc., which are all of different diameters.

pargeterw

Care to clarify what you mean by these? The plan on my 1970's Gitane rennovation project ( https://gitaingaves.blogspot.co.uk/ if you're interested) includes switching down to 700c wheels (and putting on a Cassette), on the premise that this would give more mechanical advantage to the Cantilevers, thus improving stopping power? (To clarify, there's NO desire to keep originality at all - we want reliability above all, and, to be 'future proof' would be an added benefit)

pargeterw

Hmm... People keep telling me to give up and buy a modern tandem. Spoilsports! (They're probably right really though, in my case at least...)

ksisler

Some that come to mind as potential hits depending on what you might be changing from/to;
- Must buy the new wheels, tires, tubes, cassettes, spares, maybe need to replace your pump heads if changing from/to Presta, etc. Tandem bits are not cheap!
- Build lag time, shipping lag time, shipping damage, filing claims, etc.
- Having to move the brake studs up or down (not always, but often enough the case) or buy new brakes bits to make it all line up with the new location.
- Gear ratios that now feel just wrong enough to require buying parts, labor to get it all installed, tuned and working. And now chain probably too short or too long...
- New cassette need a different chain and thus might required new chainrings
- A beloved pair of Fenders now don't quite fit right or look just goofy enough to require replacement
- Racks have to be mod'd, replaced, bent, etc. and now your panniers aren't quite right either and the tail light mount on the new rear rack is not right for the old tail light you love.
- Change in BB height becomes an issue in several potential ways including frame fit to captains inseam and puts a marginal standover height into the red or results in toes now hitting front fender (if going up to larger wheel) or hitting pedal on ground in a turn (if going down to 26")
- Have to buy some new tools (such as cassette tool, drum brake tool)
- Realizing that your old brake cables were trimmed to be just right lenght for the old brake location and are now just a smidge too short to reach so a complete new set is needed and no one in town has a set in stock or even sells them, thus screwing up tomorrow's ride (see last item).
- Generator braze-on mount now won't quite let you reach the sidewall or changes the angle so it now cuts into the sidewall 20 miles later
- Old wheel had a drum and new one is disk and all the fun that can result from that
- All changes will likely annoy the stoker and thus it is your fault...
- Etc.