Originally Posted by TandemDoc
Hi There,
You can certainly go smaller on the big ring if you wish, but with a 26-inch wheel I doubt that your big ring will be a problem. Since you will probably only use the 54 in steep downhills and since you already have some pretty low gearing with your 11-32 combination, you might not want to change out the big ring.
On the other hand if you are having trouble shifting the front derailleur, going to a 52 or 53 is not a bad idea as the 28 to 54 is close to (but not at) the limit of the derailleur wrap capacity.
Typcially Burley specs their tandems with a 53-42-30 set up so it looks like whomever owned the bike previously had done some chainring swapping to get a broader range.
It is a little difficult to shift on to the big ring, but that is more a problem of the Deore XT shift lever and the length of it's swing before the ring will climb up there. As for steep downhills, my wife doesn't really like to go quite that fast
I am in the process of getting a drag brake to help with that issue. Thanks for your comments.