fxsvelo

This weekend I was offered a tandem project. Someone had taken it apart, not sure why, and lost the energy to put it back together. Probably deterred by both SIS shifters being totally non-functional and too many tandem-specific oddities.

So, I collected all the parts I could find and dragged it home to reassemble. It turns out to be almost a complete bike, only missing stoker pedals, stoker seatpost, and seat. WD-40 got the dried-up grease out of the shifters so they work like new and a few new cables and cable housing pieces and it's back on the road.

It's a 1998 Rodriguez Parrot with Shimano 600 SIS 8 speed . A nice bike in its day. But here's the part that has me scratching my head. The bike has seen very little use. The SIS brake hoods look new, no wear. The drivetrain parts look original and un-worn. I'm guessing it has less than 500-1000 miles on it.

But someone has gone to the trouble of upgrading the brakes to Shimano V-brakes and Travel Agents from the original cantilevers. The pads are hard and dry of course, so this was done some years ago.

But even more odd, someone bought new wheels for it. It has Shimano XT (mountain) *disk* hubs and Mavic A719 rims. The wheels look to be new and unused. And here's the really odd part. They resized the rear end to 135mm from the original 140 INSTEAD of going to 145.

Any guesses, theories, or ideas how that happened? Both the wheel upgrade and how a bike that was never ridden in the first place got so many upgrades.

I checked with R+E and they have no reports of a bike fitting this description being stolen.

But the real mystery is *why* I did this since my wife points out that not only do we not need a *fourth* tandem, we have no place to store. It's living behind the couch at the moment. But it was a fun project. Anyone interested in a nice, if somewhat antique, tandem? It's a 52 / 43. Full specs on request.

Oh, and "Parrot"? There is a bird called the Rodrigues Parrot (Necropsittacus rodricanus). It went extinct in the late 18th century. The name means "dead parrot of Rodrigues", so maybe a Monty Python reference as well?

xlbs

If you'd be willing to post some specs and pics I'd love to have more information about this machine. It sounds like you've done a fine job of making it road-worthy. Thanks!

xlbs

If you'd be willing to post some specs and pics I'd love to have more information about this machine. It sounds like you've done a fine job of making it road-worthy. Thanks! I don't have quite enough posts to send a pm...if you wish my e-mail address is ipj.bailieboro@gmail.com for same.

xlbs

sorry for the double post...I'm still not used to the edit function...

xlbs

Please do check in...based on the number of views there are a number of folks who would like more details on this interesting project! The suspense is tantalizing.

In addition, setting the frame to 135 may have been the smart thing to do at the time. There were vastly more hub options at the 135 mm than there were at that tandem width of 145 mm. The owners may have been advised that keeping their options open was wise. Some folks build second wheel-sets for different riding, so being able to set up a second wheel-set with easily sourced 135 mm hubs would make for a simpler and cheaper and lighter second set.

Bezalel

Could be that whoever built up the frame had an MTB donor bike.

xlbs

I think that these wheels were built new since the Mavic rims our OP mention are 700C, not 26 inch. The Parrot was built around 700C wheels.

fxsvelo

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Sorry, been busy, but since you asked, here are more details on the Rodriguez Parrot (below).

Regarding the odd wheels, someone has suggested that if you're buying new Shimano XT hubs, you're probably going to end up with the disk brake version. And since the new wheels are 135 OLD, maybe someone just got rid of the original 140 OLD wheels? Seems a shame since they probably had very few miles on them. Plus now you can't add a drum brake which the frame is set up for.

Anyhow, nice as it is, it doesn't fit us, so I need to sell it. I'd appreciate any suggestions as to what you think it's worth. At under 40 lbs it's quite a bit lighter than a Burley of that era which is about 47 lbs(?), or a Santana Arriva which is even heavier.

If anyone is interested, email me bill@bill-king.net.

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1998 Rodriguez “Parrot” Tandem
https://rodbikes.com/catalog/catalog-1998small.pdf

Steel, tig-welded, internal lateral design with ovalized top and keel tubes. 1-1/8 threadless Unicrown steel fork. Shimano SIS 8 speed. “Inside-out two color fade paint” in purple. Wheels are essentially new. Currently has 28mm tires and will take 32mm but not bigger. Braze-ons for 3 water bottles (2 stoker, 1 captain), rear rack, fenders, front fork rack, pump peg on top of keel tube, rear cantilever brake cable stop, rear drum brake arm, and brake and derailleur cable stops.

This bike has had very little use. The brake/shifter hoods look new and un-worn. I suspect all the parts are original except for the upgrade to V-brakes and Travel Agents and the Shimano XT/Mavic A719 wheels. The frame would have originally been spaced 140mm, but has been modified to 135mm for standard mountain bike-spacing hubs with 700c rims. Since it's a steel frame it could be reset to 145 pretty easily.

I get a weight of 39 lbs as shown in the photos (no bottle cages, rack, no stoker pedals) but still pretty light for a steel frame.

Shimano 600 SIS 8 speed
Sugino Fuse Tandem crankset 53/40/28
Sealed bearing BBs
Bushnell eccentric
Shimano STX V-brake with Travel Agent pull ratio converters
Chris King 1-1/8” threadless headset
Shimano XT disk brake hubs, 700c Mavic A719 rims, 36 hole F&R
Shimano XT rear derailer
Sachs front derailer
Rodriguez stoker stem (uses standard single stem)
SRAM 11-28 cassette

Captain
TT 20” / 52cm
ST 20” / 52cm
Crank 170mm
Bars Cinelli 66-40 (40 cm)
Seatpost Kalloy Uno black
Seat Avocet Mountain W30

Stoker
TT 28” / 71 cm
ST 17” / 43 cm
Crank 170mm
Bars 36 cm drop style
Seatpost Kalloy Uno black
Seat Serfas gel

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1144225/RodParrot.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1144225/RodParrotBrakeHood.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1144225/RodParrotBushnellEBB.jpeg

xlbs

Thanks for posting these details. It's a lovely bike, and you have done some very good work on it too; the pics indicate that this is in really good shape for an older steel tandem.

swc7916

I believe it's a Toucan ("Two Can", Get it?)