Originally Posted by
sdodd
Davinci will make you whatever length tandem crankset you want. Price is half of the Appleman. You will likely need bottom brackets as well but you also need that with the appleman set.
Components - da Vinci Designs Tandems
Honestly, I wouldn't drop that money on changing your crankset when all you need is rings. If you want a 2x I'm sure you can do that on the FSA - even with the move to 11 or 12 speed.
If you are looking for more precise gear changes, the electronic shifting will do you much better. I have had a DI2 XTR setup on my road tandem for the last 5 years and couldn't be happier. With the display I know what gear I'm in and I can shift under load without issue. IMHO if you are wanting to improve shifting and thinking about dropping $1500, then etap/AXS and chainrings are my recommendation.
simon
The Problem with FSA is they do not make a 165 rear crankset which is a must for my stoker. Found out I can order just the rear crankset from Appleman so that will save about $525 and just keep the front crankset as is.
I have Ultegra Di2 on one bike, it is nice but I have SRAM Force 11 speed on another and its not a big difference. I don't really feel a need to go electronic on this.