My wife and I have ridden in many bike club tours. Never had a issue with the BikeE E2 . The bike definitely is not a speed demon. However when touring around in the Hampton's on Long Island I did find a issue with motorists gawking at us an not focusing on their driving . We both have back issues. We have had standard tandems and they were never as easy on the body as this bike. I imagine if one keeps up with normal maintenance and treats the bike correctly, not like some short exhibition bike doing drops off curbs etc, then the bike lasts accordingly . But then again you can abuse anything to the point of failure.. not sure why this is the manufacturers fault. With a decent bike pack, we have had some pleasant trips. Looking forward to the spring to ride once again.