ricardo kuhn

Note :First of all I have NO comercial interested in anyway shape of form I'm just trying to help the community..

I when by a store call "the bent spoke" this morning looking for some tandem parts and I saw this little beauty....(Yes..! i did find the exentric i was looking for)

actually I don't really know much about it exept for the fact that looks really nicelly made (specially for a Raleigh) and it comes with Avid disc brakes and black truvative cranks adjustable stoker stem and a bouncy bouncy seatpost...

anyway here are some pictures,, they tell me the bike retails or $1460 and they are willing to sell it for about $1120...(they are clossing the shop next month)



Nice Avid mecanical brakes



hopefully this helps somebody looking for a nice little bike the sizes are medium/ small like you can see on the foto


Note : I have NO comercial interested in anyway shape of form I'm just trying to help
this guys have a phone but not a website so call them at (510) 540 0583

again no commercial interest or anything more than being helpfull

Guest

Well, my only question is- do you have any commercial interest in any way shape or form in selling this bike?



Point taken. Thanks for the heads up.

Koffee

TandemGeek

Just a data point on this particular model of tandem and the Avid brakes... the Coupe appears to only have the stock 160mm rotors front & rear.

When I have spoken with Avid in the past they have been adamant that they only endorse the 203mm rotor versions of it's mechanical disc brakes for use as primary brakes on tandems. It's noteworthy that Cannondale was the first major tandem producer to offer the dual Avid discs as OEM brakes and the 203mm rotors are used on both the road and off-road models.

Therefore, I would not recommend the stock Avid set-up on the Coupe for any teams that have a combined weight much above 220lbs (e.g., adult & child) UNLESS they would only being riding on relatively flat terrain. IMHO, to do otherwise would invite brake overheating on even moderate descents by a novice team that was not familiar with the proper use of disc brakes which could prove catastrophic in the event that both front & rear brakes were overheated and brake performance faded to nil.

Bottom Line: Great set-up for the local bike paths but not necessarily the streets of San Francisco WITHOUT upgrading the caliper adapters and rotors to the 203mm spec.

ricardo kuhn

I was not sure about posting this for that same reason, because people will think I was doing it for a monetary reward or something like that,,

the case is a varelly know the guys and i just so a add on the local craigslist about them clossing the Bike shop

well if you guys thing is wrong for me to post this please delete my posting I don't care i was just trying to give another choice to the comunity since almost daylly i see people asking were to find a entry level tandem to try out....



as ussual Tandem geek you make perfect sense,,the Upgrade will be simple in terms of the adaptor require but maybe the forks and for sure the Quick releases can not take it (I only run big rotors on 20MM axle forks)

thanks again for your opinion

TandemGeek

FWIW: We've beaten this to death in several other threads.

In short, for road use, it would not be an issue UNLESS the drop-outs are wholly inadequate, e.g., semi-rear facing and/or lacking a supplemental axle retention device (lawyer lips, locking skewer). For light trail and off-road use, the same considerations would apply. The onus in these instances is on the operator who must ensure the axle is properly seated and that a good-quality steel skewer is properly secured.

Where faulty design enters the fray is when an overly aggressive brake like a 4 pot downhill model is installed on a fork that wasn't designed for it and/or when a lightweight skewer is used. I say this as someone who rode a Ventana F/S tandem with my wife for 2 years on very technical singletrack that was equipped with 4 pot Hope discs and a 9mm QR skewer but that used a Stratos FR-4T suspension fork that had properly designed drop-outs. We have since replaced that Ventana with another one that has a 20mm through axle but which is otherwise the same as a way of stiffening up the front end, not as a hedge against a wheel ejection.

As for the dual disc equipped enduro tandem that suffered a wheel ejection and which started much of the discussions surrounding this topic, we were one of the first to hear of James' and Jules' accident since they are charter members of my off-road tandem discussion forum. Their tandem had the worst of all possible combinations of fork and brake configurations and underscored the need to evaluate each bike before assuming that there were no safety concerns.

In closing, it's worthwhile to note that Cannondale has now been selling 203mm dual disc-equipped off-road and road tandems fitted to rigid forks with 9mm QR skewers for several seasons and, to the best of my knowledge, there have not been any reports of systemic wheel ejections. Given the starts and stops that Cannondale went through with its lawyers when it first tried to bring the MT4000 with Magura discs to market and the testing that was required for the Avids, if there was a problem with their configuration it is my belief that the discs would have been yanked in a New York minute.

stapfam

I must agree that the Raleigh may not be the ultimate Tandem for a very efficient aggressive team, but compared to some of the low end Tandems that I looked at a few years ago, this one one would appear to be better equipped than most. The brakes may be a little small, and as I do not even know the bike, the frame may be too flexible or have hidden faults that would not suit a good team. But as I say, compared to some of the rubbish that I looked at, this one does not seem too bad.

ricardo kuhn

exactlly what i was thinking...

personally I was really surprise when they mension the price (reason why i decide to do this posting since sound like such a great deal plus I already have my ibis and that frame is all i will ever need) but i was really surprise with the overall quality of the components and for sure the frame, personally i will not purchase a Tandem made out of aluminum at least one for the dirt since I'm worry about structural fatigue and longevity not to mension a unconfortable ride but on the other hand is really easy to achive a very rigid structure ussing aluminum with really big wide tubes...

another note, the quality of the frame manufacturings was really impresive not just for a brand like Raleigh that lattelly (and sadlly) is becoming such a K-mart staple but for any frame manufacture, the welds were spotless (easy to do with a "Sequencial" welder i guess) exelent paint(again easy to achive i guess with the current tecnics) the brace ons right in place,,well exept for the cantilever bosses for the front forks, nice smart placement of the waterbottles holes, good cable routing anyway look far more expensive than they price they were asking...

somehow is my believe if tandems were a little more afordable but still achiving some high quality standards a lot more people will be riding them, but so far (that i know) is only 3 choices

A) super expensive NEW bikes.(we all know how much they retail for)

B)Cheap (still around a $1000) but UlTrA Chesse bargain basement bikes.

C) or find a Used one if you get lucky and spend some time and money to updated until is just they way you like it (Like i did with my ibis)

ROJA

Thanks for posting, I will check this one out.

EDIT: Just tried calling and no answer, so maybe they are out of business already...

ricardo kuhn

I think they are close on mondays, so maybe you still have time
for all i know they will close that shop at the end of the month..

Ps: I found my Yakima tandem rack on craigslist for $120, so keep looking or place a "WAnted" add(that is how i got mine and my ibis tandem too but i wait about 2 years to find what i want) on Craigslist so far that is the best place I found for bike stuff

zonatandem

A pretty decent price but could be a bit less as 2006 are being announced.
For an introductyory tandem, you could be doing much worse!
Have ridden one and was pleasantly surprised!

gregm

The business as a whole isn't closing -- they're just going from two stores to one. I don't know if the Berkeley University Ave. store is actually closed yet, but try calling the Oakland store on Telegraph Ave at sixty-something street. (It's like four blocks from where I'm sitting now, by the way...)

-Greg

ROJA

Thanks again. Just talked to him and he sounds pretty flexible as he said he does not want to move the bike to the new location. He threw out a figure of $1000 and may move even more. It is not exactly what I was looking for, but it may be quite a steal at that price. Should I hold out for a roadie or go with this bike (seems to be kind of a hybrid model, but maybe I could put on road bars)? It would be a first tandem for the both of us. It is a Raleigh Coupe and it is new (2005 model). Could I ride this bike for a couple years and then sell it for close to that amount? It seems like tandems hold their value pretty well. Thanks for any advice on the fly, as he wants to sell it by FRIDAY! Is this bike worth jumping for?

stapfam

The first Tandem, or any bike for that matter, is never the one you really want. At the price of this one, and the quality up against other "Beginners" bikes, I doubt as to whether you would do better. On top of that, you might even try some gentle offroading, and find the real fun of tandem riding. There is a learning curve to take on tandems, and if this one has to be moved on, you would not lose very much, if any.