I clarified with Santana what they meant by upgrading the fork to a 1 1/4" steerer tube fork. I was confused. The replacement unicrown fork they sell for replacement is a 1" threadless. So, if anyone happens to have a 395x55 1" steerer tandem fork they would like to sell, lemme know.

I think a teardown and inspection is in order soon, just for piece of mind, but I really doubt we really need to replace the fork just because it is more than 15 years old. I own similar age vintage single frames from Ritchie, Cielo (Chris King), Kestrel (which did get an new EMS fork to replace the aluminum "death fork" when they fixed my cracked down tube), Cannondale, Specialized, and one home-built and I trust my life to all their forks. This Elan appears to have very low miles. Of course Santana's company line is "over 15 years old replace it" so I dunno...

On another topic, we're seriously thinking about moving the drum to either a MTB FD shifter or bar end shifter on the stoker's bars. Cable routing looks to be a challenge so I am seeking ideas. I think down the captain's seat tube to the captain's BB shell with housing, and then routed as it is now the rest of the way will work, but I would like to make sure both the cable run is as friction-free as possible, and the installation is tidy (at worst zip ties I suppose down the seat tube, ugly as they may be). I assume I need to use a derailleur cable and housing since I don't think a brake cable end will fit a shifter