Originally Posted by
crank_addict
Enjoy your search but patience pays...
Top tandem's are lighter today but you can't beat the ride of these early Santana. I do occasionally loan it out and all who's ridden it are amazed. Most are so accustomed to today's harsh ride's, and this includes tandems. So when they float along on this Santana, it bends their mind. Truly a treat to ride.
Opinions differ about what's good. I wanted the following:
V brakes
Indexed shifting
Freehub
Not a project, ready to ride today, maintainable with parts I can buy at retail today
What I found is a late (like early 2000's) Burley Samba that had all this, and a drop bar conversion with bar ends. I think between the steel frame and the fat tires, and the previous stoker's suspension seatpost any my stoker's tractor seat in the rear, it will be just fine for comfort. I don't expect it to be the least light or racy, and hopefully only stiff enough to deal with our mutual overweightness.