My first was and is a burly!
The deal on the duet sounds great, if you fit the bike. I bought a Samba Mixte back in 92, used and haven't looked back. My stoker pool is 2 teenage daughters and they are motors. I've had some work on the brakes, new captain handlebars, bar ends for both stoker and pilot, and am thinking of upgrading from the suntour rear derailler. Like most of the other bikes in the stable, it does tend to evolve to fit the direction we are riding. We are not long distance riders (more than 50 miles) yet, but someday we will upgrade to road tandem (or God-willing) a triplet.
The Duet mentioned sounds like a fast bike and smooth stoker cockpit. We passed one last year (mother and very young son team) and it looked like a fast ride. Good Luck!