Being that it's your first tandem, you must approach your research and test rides like a mountain biker shopping for their first road bike or, conversely, a roadie shopping for their first serious off-road XC or FR bike: ask lots of questions and take some meaningful test rides with your tandem partner. Well, OK, the tandem partner thing adds an entirely new dimension, but having them along for the test rides is critical. Different size stokers make tandems handle quite differently. Thus, if you had a 5' tall, 100lb shop clerk hop on to "fill-in" for your intended stoker, and your intended stoker is 5'8" and 130lbs, the tandem will feel like a completely different machine -- becoming more of a handful as the stokers get taller and heavier. So, anyone shopping for a tandem would want to keep that in mind.

Another thing to keep in mind with your first tandem is that it IS your "first tandem"... More specifically, it is potentially the first and last tandem you'll own: either because it fits your needs for the foreseeable future or you decide tandems just aren't 'your thing'. Or, as is often times the case for folks who become smitten with tandeming, it becomes the first in a series of what will be several, progressively higher-end models.

Finally, to your actual question. Not sure if there's a message here beyond economics and the fickle nature of "branding association", but it appears that Raleigh has discounted the Pursuit model across their entire dealer network. It was originally marketed with an MSRP in the $1,500 range and a few months back began to show up with the lower, $1,350 price tag at quite a few shops. As for the bike itself, we've seen one and it looked to be quite nice as an entry level model.... very comparable to the KHS Milano (perhaps even sharing the same frame or coming from the same factory). The frame design is conventional which is a good thing, it's fabricated in Asia which is why the price-point is consistent with other Asian-sourced bikes, and the components are of good quality -- notwithstanding any generic hubs (as compared to say Shimano's very good and economical tandem hubs) which would only be a concern for very heavy teams or teams who will log lots of miles (re: bearing quality and servicability). But, hey, rims wear-out or get dinged regardless of how much you pay for the wheelset so there are always opportunities to upgrade hubs. Assuming the bike shop does a competent job of assembly and set-up, it should perform well for most types of riding.

Again, the bottom line remains: Test ride and decide. If they have a Cannondale model or other tandem brands on hand for test rides do several back-to-back test rides on the same day. The more you test ride the more secure you'll feel on all tandems so that first tandem you test rode that felt wobbly at 9:00am may end up being the best of the bunch when you test ride it again at 2:00pm after trying a few more and taking a lunch break. I think we test rode 7 different tandems several times the day we purchased our first tandem... spending a full day doing it. Hey, when you're dropping a couple grand on a bike, it's time well spent. And, as good as that first tandem was, a year later we had our "next" tandem on order...