Originally Posted by
fitzpgb
Cases (need a pair) go from $500 (soft) to $1,000 hard. Say $3K. That would be an 8- 75 trip payback!! I’m sure airlines are not going to get easier, as the look for every way to make money.
There's actually a picture of a Bilenky coupled tandem in a single case. You might need to go custom to make that work, though. Certainly not at our size!
http://www.sandsmachine.com/pack_t4.htm
[QUOTE=fitzpgb;9430116]
There appears to be tandems with three sets of brakes – front, rear and drum!! The thought of two people being capable of breaking (other than an extreme emergency), scares me [reversegear]. I’ll take the punch in the back instead. For all the big climbs/descents in Colorado and the ones we hope to do in Europe (Alps, Pyrenees), I think the advice of a disc in the rear (Avid BB7 Road w/203mm G2 Clean Sweep rotor – thanks [TandemGeek]) and Shimano calipers in the front sound good. A drum appears to add too much weight for the limited use.
Originally Posted by
fitzpgb
Where you put the drum brake control is a matter of personal preference. Our Bilenky has it under stoker control; our kids' Santana has it controlled with a bar-end shift lever on the captain's bars.
Originally Posted by
fitzpgb
Performance: On the drive train it looks like Ultegra is a good compromise between shifting capability and wear (thanks [pablopsd, WebsterBikeMan]). I love my D/A (lighter, smooth shift), but they do wear faster.
And bear in mind that many tandem parts wear around twice as fast as single parts.
Originally Posted by
fitzpgb
Price: Cost is always an object [TandemGeek]!! Still waiting for the PowerBall to come in. I’m not sure it’s quite the 3X price challenge of a single [WebsterBikeMan]. My current single as outfitted was in the $4,500+ range, but I get your point. Carbon, couplers (e.g. Calfee Tetra S&S) with top end components can get you to $13K quickly.
OK, within limits. I was speaking from our experience. I looked for a reasonably equipped equivalent to my 25-year old touring bike, and tripled that, and it matched what I paid for an equivalently equipped touring tandem. If you start at $4500, you can probably be happy with just doubling it.
Originally Posted by
fitzpgb
It's all downhill from here
Have fun.