Originally Posted by bandaidman
...the new 2004 cannondale road tandem seems to be a good compromise. Any other tandems we should look at in this range?
Cannondale's RT-1000 is one of the best price-performers when it comes to Aluminum tandems; no question about it. Aluminum gets a bad rap, and Cannondale in particular, but given most of the improvements they've made over the years the frames are fairly well refined and provide a very stiff, responsive ride. Any stoker comfort can be addressed on any tandem by using a good quality shock-post and/or slightly larger diameter tires. Go-fast wheels with rock-hard racing tires have the opposite effect.
As for price, at $2450 ($2295 @Tandems East) w/Ultegra, disc-ready DT/Hugi hubs, Mavic A719 rims and some other nice bits it's a great buy. The equivalent bikes from Co-Motion would be the Speedster @ $3,620 (steel), Burley's would be the Paso Doble @ $4,099 (steel) or Rivazza @ $4,099 (Al), Trek's T2000 at $2,999 (Al), and so on....
Others to consider:
1. USED: To get the same level of components, you could look for a used C'dale RT3000, which is about the same level of components used on the '04 RT1000. The previous RT1000 was a 105 level bike. A used Co-Motion Speedster (steel), Santana Arriva (steel) or Sovereign (Al), or Burley Duet (steel). You can learn more about my rationale for buying used here:
http://home.att.net/~thetandemlink/u...l#anchor948986
2. NEW: Nothing with Ultegra at the prices Cannondale offers the RT1000 for.
a. Co-Motion Primera (steel) - 105/XT level @ $2,850
b. Burley Tosa (Al) - 105/XT level @ $2,449
c. Burley Duet (steel) - 105/XT Level @ $2,499
3. NEW: Tiagra/Deore Level
a. Burley Rumba (steel) - $1,699
b. Burley Tamburello (Al) - $1,999
c. Trek T1000 (Al) - $1,999
Obviously, the key is taking a test ride to figure out which bike you feel most comfortable on. Burley, Santana & Trek all use the same steering geometry (1.89"), whereas Cannondale uses a bit more trail (2") and Co-Motion uses the most steering trail (2.25") of any production builder. I always recommend taking several back-to-back test rides through the available brand range and then doing it again in reverse order to get the most accurate results. That can be tough as very few bike shops stock tandems. Regardless, you should at least take a representative model of the tandem you plan to buy for a test ride before-hand if at all possible, just to eliminate any major surprise. In general, everyone will find their first tandem rides a bit uncomfortable but most folks who succeed as tandem teams come up the learning curve rather quickly.