As mentioned the Calfee small/small might just fit you... We are very close to your size and love our Calfee Dragonfly and went with the standard size.

I do know about Paketas, ironically we have had the chance to get to know Dave Walker (the man behind the Paketa Tandem project). Had we met Dave BEFORE our Calfee purchase, we would very likely be riding a Paketa. They are very nice bikes! Very light too!

My stoker prefers drop bars (for more hand positions).

We opted for the rear disc brake because we ride mostly in the mountains here in Colorado. I agree that you would likely be fine without the disc, but I like the piece of mind that I will not overheat the rim (I have warped the disc and turned it some cool colors - but no big deal).

It is my belief that ALL of the high end manufacturers listed so far (Calfee, Paketa, Co-Motion, Rue Sports) are building high quality products. You will not get a unanimous answer for "the best".

If you are looking to build a lightweight tandem, be prepared to spend $$$. Build as nice of a bike as you can afford. We have a bit of $$ tied up in tandems - but we RIDE them!!!

Keep asking questions here - you'll get a lot of different answers. There's a wealth of tandem knowledge on this forum.

Good luck on your journey to build the RIGHT tandem for YOU and YOUR stoker!