As WBM mentioned, I have that bike and my wife and I have really enjoyed riding it together.


My wife and I are planning on riding the C&O Towpath for our 3 year anniversary this fall. Depending on the weight of your team and how rough the terrain you plan ride over is you might consider upgrading the rear wheel from the stock freewheel to a hub with a freehub body and cassette. The reason is that the freewheel puts the drive side bearing pretty far inboard and this can lead to the rear axle bending if you are a heavy team or you hit a big bump. The rear axle on my CME was bent when we bought it so I replaced the axle but I'm having a Shimano XT hub built onto a Sun Rhyno Lite rim (36 spoke 3 cross) before we start the tour. I have the hub and rim sitting in my dining room, I just need some spokes. The freehub body puts the bearings further outboard and reduces the likelihood of bending the rear axle.

Unless your bike came with aftermarket handlebars, the stock bars are just wide cruiser bars and not really "ape hangers". I'm still using the original bars but I installed bar ends for added hand positions. I have also considered swapping the bars for something a little more ergonomic but I have not decided what I want yet.

If you are new to tandeming you may find that the wide handlebars help offer additional leverage to keep the bike balanced when stopping and starting. If you swap to much narrower bars you may find that it requires a lot more effort to keep the bike upright when stopped if your stoker starts to lean or fidget too much.

Do you mean racks to carry things on the bike or racks to carry the bike on a vehicle?

Racks for the bike are easy- The rear spacing is 135mm (mountain bike standard) and the bike has braze-ons on the dropouts and seat stays so almost any standard rack should work.

Racks for a vehicle is a little more complicated- There are all types of roof mounting racks depending on budget and vehicle type. There are also hitch mounted and truck bed mounted styles available. My wife drives a Nissan Rogue (hatchback/CUV) we transport the tandem by folding down the passenger front and rear seats and removing the saddles from the bike. My wife sits behind me on the drivers side of the split rear bench seat and the bike takes up the entire passenger side of the vehicle.

Since we purchased the bike we have began upgrading it to make it more comfortable and better performing. Some upgrades we've added or are adding include:
• Ditched both stock saddles in favor of a Terry Butterfly for her and a WTB comfort/mountain saddle for me. (saved a lot of weight from this too, those stock saddles are boat anchors!)
• Ditched the low end suspended seatposts for rigid BMX 4 bolt posts. (haven't gotten much saddle time to test out this change but it's got to be better than the stock posts)
• Added bar ends to the captain handlebars. I'm considering swapping the bars for more traditional risers, trekking bars, or mustache bars.
• Added a bell for greenway/MUP riding.
• Replaced the flimsy (stock?) bottle cages with heavier duty aluminum cages.
• Replaced all 3 sets of bottle cage screws due to rust on original hardware.
• Clipless pedals (Shimano M545's front and Shimano M520's rear)
• Handlebar bag for tools, spare tube, map, energy bar, etc.

Upgrades that are in the works-
• New rear wheel. XT hub, Rhyno Lite rim, 36 spoke 3 cross.
• Since the new hub is 9 speed compatible we'll probably add a 9 speed cassette. (11-34 maybe?)
• New rear shifter, derailleur, and drive-side chain to accommodate the new wheel/cassette. I'm debating between swapping the rear to friction shifting or staying with indexed shifting.
• As discussed above, new handlebars.

The picture in my sig line is of my tandem as I purchased it and does not reflect the current upgrades. I'll try to get come pictures of it as it is now but since it's still miserable outside it may be a few days. If you've got any pics of your bike you should post them up. We love pictures here!

Good luck and happy pedaling!