TandemGeek, I am very surprised that you would criticize me for asking the purchaser of a 3-speed, cruiser style tandem with an apparent list price of $1299.00 to hold off on adding further depreciation till they were sure they made the right purchase decision! All the more incredible as when I joined this forum real heat was poured on anyone considering the purchase of anything other than a front line specialty tandem even if it had to be purchased used to bring the price under $2K. I stand by my opinions and IMO entry level riders need more speeds, not less. Our first tandem was the Kent (Wal-Mart) Dual-Drive, a bike that is below the radar of even the 'entry-level' price point (~$1k) at $200.00. But the DD has a triple front crankset and an 8sp cluster. Luckilly the original posters understand that my concern came from a good place. I was hardly telling them to give up riding. Just making a reality check, wouldn't you appreciate someone asking you if you were really sure you wanted to do something rather than simply give blanket encouragement even when that person would never in a million years themselves do the very thing they have given you the thumbs up on?? Hmmmm....
H