JohnDThompson 

My wife and I bought a 1983 Gitane tandem (new) for $350 a week after we were married. I still have it, but it doesn't get ridden much anymore. The frame is whippy, but ridable. The bike came with an interesting mix of tandem-grade and standard components. The fork blades and top tube are oversize diameter; the down tube is standard. It has MAFAC tandem cantilevers operated by a dual-cable lever, and a rear Atom drum brake operated by the other lever. 40-spoke wheels, front and rear laced to MAVIC mod E rims. The rear axle is oversize at 12mm diameter (I had to ream out my Phil freewheel tool to fit); the front is 10mm. Nice Stronglight 99 tandem crank. Simplex 410 rear (since replaced due to spring failure with a Campy Rally). Down tube mounted Simplex friction shift levers, since replaced with Simplex retrofriction levers. Nasty vinyl saddles replaced by Avocet Touring 1 (front) and Brooks B66 (rear). Atom "tandem" freewheel (4 pawls instead of two). Nasty Hutchinson clincher tires that barely lasted 3 weeks. 46cm wide rear handlebar for butt clearance came standard. Stronglight P-3 headset that barely lasted one season; replaced with Stronglight Delta -- still going strong. Not the elite of tandems but the initial $350 we paid was well spent.

-holiday76

that sounds and looks just like the one i have. gitane rallye.

frameteam2003

David Newton wrote
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That's a neat Ernie Ross tandem. Is it whippy like the wise men are saying?
Whichever

I'm sorry that should have been spelled Ernie Russ.
And no it's not whippy---and it's not fast--at least for me and the wife.
It is made with oversized tubing and lugs.And you will also see it's made like the santana in that it has a cross bar
centered in the frame.Oversized BB and headset too all Chater Lea lugs/BB/and Headset.

The Bilenky Tandem was the first(I'm told) to use an ovaled size tubing beam to make the frame stronger in the side ways direction to correct for movement

Schwinn Town and Country tandems are "real" tandems and worth searching for.
And any tandem--even the cheep cruzer type are fun bikes if used for short rides/rides in the park,or just to a movie.If keepin up with the roades is your thing invest in a new tandem--if you don't mind being left behind to have your own good time , find one in your budget you like.

Andrew F

I've had this Schwinn Twinn for a couple of years, never really sure what to do with it or why I picked it up. Cranks are alloy "Starlight" and the derailuers are Schwinn GT 540's ? Maybe some 700's a couple of nice saddles, upgrade the brakes and add drop bars?

tcs

Yes, and the early (1976-1983) classic Santanas were built with proprietary Ishiwata tubing that Bill McCready had custom drawn.

The Taylor brothers (Jack, Ken and Norm) famously had Reynolds custom draw heavy wall tubing just for their tandems in the...early 1950s? Tandem legend and lore relates that Jack Taylors sold their first tandem into America to a young couple from Northern California in 1956.

Best,
tcs

noglider 

I've wanted a tandem for a long time. I hope I can afford one, one day. My Lovely Wife™ is not convinced we'd ride it much. I want to try one with her for a few rides.

Chris_in_Miami

Took me a couple of seconds to realize that the bike is hanging from the ceiling, but why isn't the camera's date stamp inverted?

-holiday76

not if he held the camera up side down.

Andrew F

Noglider, if you want to true the wheels and adjust the brakes, you can borrow mine. It would be a tough ride from my place to yours so I think you will need a pick-up or van to transport it.

prathmann

We bought our Gitane Tandem Sport in '72 and it was fairly well-used at the time so I'm guessing that it was a mid-60s bike. The picture below is from a ride earlier today when it was borrowed by a friend who wanted to try out a tandem to see if he and his SO would like it.

rhm

I have a Counterpoint Opus II that dates to 1984. Here's a photo


Anyway, the crew sits in front, in recumbent position; the captain sits in back, in traditional bicyclist position. This has various advantages; it's more fun for the stoker, who has an unencumbered view, comfortable seating, and hands free; the captain can see right over the stoker's head. Since they sit pretty close together, they can converse pretty well. I've ridden it somewhere around 1700 miles, mostly touring with my daughter who's 11.

It's a heavy bike, but it does not have any of the problems mentioned in this thread-- it's not whippy, and has held up well. Phil Wood hubs, 48 H Weinmann concave rim....

GMS 

1987 Holdsworth Gemini
Restoration in progress
Pink was the only color shown in catalog

KonAaron Snake 

I haven't worked on this, or ridden it in ages, since it's stored in my parent's garage:

tcs

I read that for every 1000 bikes sold in the USA, one will be a tandem.

scozim, if we haven't scared you off your quest to put a C&V tandem back in harness (and I hope not), other C&V tandems to look for/at include:

The Schwinn Parmount, which was available equipped for either racing or touring with either a dual top bar or mixtie back frame and either a straight or curved (even shorter wheelbase) rear seat tube. I'm surprised no one has posted pics of their old Paramount tandem yet.

The Schwinn Twinn Sport, an electroforged "Continental tandem" with classic ten-speed gearing.

And the Schwinn Town and Country, for my money the ne plus ultra going-for-a-ride-in-the-park tandem.

tcs

Mr IGH

WOW, three seat hand brazed Schwinn T&C! What's the story behind it? Are there chainguards for the other chains?

scozim 

Not scared at all. In fact, if anything, even more intrigued. There are some fantastic looking bikes posted here. We were heading to Seattle yesterday and going east (the other direction) were riders for the Courage Classic. My daughter saw her friend (12 yo) and dad on their tandem and thought said again how much fun she thought that would be.

The posts have been great and informative. I'll keep doing research and putting pennies in the tandem fund so one day (hopefully sooner than later) I'll have one in the stable that she can ride with me . I've got a friend in town who rides a Rodriguez custom tandem with his wife and they absolutely love it. However, that's a little out of my buget.

KonAaron Snake 

There is a story behind it...

My family was driving to breakfast and my sister noticed a tandem sitting out near some garbage. I looked and saw three seats...my father said no way...it was two and you miscounted. We argued about it and decided to go back and look to settle the debate. It was a three seater and my father and I looked at each other (I was 12) and said "oh yeah". We walked it home and cleaned it up a lot...but found getting parts for it was a BEEE-YOTCH. This was in the days of yellow pages and long distance phone charges. No ebay or CL. We took it to a local shop called Keswick and the owner offered me $200 for it. I figured if he was offering a dumb kid $200 for it, it must be worth money and said no thanks (that was passing up on a LOT of candy, video games and transformers in those days).

We ended up talking to everyone we could find about it, including one of the Schwinns...it was nearly impossible to get parts for. Finally we learned about Via...and Curtis put us in touch with someone he had sold a similar bike to. That gentlemen had discarded the original parts and modernized it...he gladly gave us many of the original bits and pieces for free. My dad decided not to take the chain guards at the time because he thought they were heavy. We didn't know what we were doing and made a mistake. Anyway...we fixed it up...got it riding, and had a blast with it. I left for College and the bike got hung on hooks and wasn't used again. I'm giving it to my brother in law on long term loan and hopefully he'll restore it to its former glory.

toytech

Our 80's Schwinn Duo Sport

noglider 

Andrew F, I'd like to take you up on that offer.

And Aaron, now that I've finally seen your triple, it's much nicer than I pictured it. Is it really that hard to fix up? I have a picture in my head of you and I and someone else -- maybe your brother? -- riding around on it, at 32 mph on flat ground.

KonAaron Snake 

Tom...it wouldn't be that hard. It needs a thorough cleaning, some rust removal...lubrication...wheels trued...brake cables/housings changed. It could probably use the bearings repacked as well. It's a few weeks of work, it;s just at my parents so it's very difficult to access. The only tricky part to it is the drum brakes...which, if I recall, are asbesthos lined.

Citoyen du Monde

You can borrow one of mine if you come and pick it up and return it in Moorestown, NJ. No need to do any work on it ;-)

vincev

[IMG][/IMG]Heres my 1948.It is probably 80 lbs and with the balloon tires it wears ya out quickly
[IMG][/IMG]

noglider 

Really?! Careful there, because you might just get a call from me. And thank you!

Citoyen du Monde

Either tandem or the triplet is ok. The one tandem has the long rear cockpit and handles like a truck, the other is real short in the back and rides like a dream (whether you ride in teh front or in the back). The triplet with both rear positions really short actually outhandles the tandem with the long rear cockpit.

gnome

Partially assembled after unpacking it from shipping. Has a porteur rack and rear rack, sprung leather saddles and various other bits and bobs to be re-attached.

It's 650b, french and from the mid 1950s at the latest as it has a Super Champion derailluer.

It should be fun once it's been cleaned, lubed and reassembled.