TeamTi700

My problem wasn't the cracked rim. Those thing happen from time to time and that's what a warranty is for.

I feel that the rim failed due to materials or workmanship, not my failure to maintain them. If these wheels are so fragile that they must be removed from the bike, tires removed, and spoke tension checked in less than 1500 miles (after proper break in), that should be mentioned in the instructions. And if allowing the spoke tension to drop 1%, or more, will void the warranty, that should also be included in the instructions.

I realize that if I were a musician, and had the correct tuning fork, Bill claims that I could check the tension without a tension meter. But I doubt that I could "hear" a drop in spoke tension of less than 1%.

I would not hesitate to buy another Santana tandem, but I would do so knowing that I would need to have a set of wheels built to back up, or replace, the set that came with the bike.

With that in mind, we are going in the direction of Zonatandem. We will pick up a set of 32H/36H Chris King hubs and have our wheel builder lace them to a set of Velocity rims. I pointed out to my stoker that the Kings will be noisier than she is used to. She quoted Tandemgeek's "that's the sound of money," but changed it to "that's the sound of quality." She then said "that's o.k., we don't coast much anyway!" That's my girl!

Rick