wxlidar

Hi all,

My wife and I are heading to Tandems East this weekend to try out some tandems. I've done quite a bit of research and am leaning towards the Co-Motion Speedster. We plan to ride a Speedster along with as many other tandems we can fit into our visit. I'm sure Mel and his crew will treat us right and properly fit us on a great bike.

But what, as a first time tandem buyer, do I need to keep in mind? Little things to think about? Potential gotchas that may not be revealed on the test ride? Things to try while on the bikes? Accessories/options to consider?

We are both fairly experienced riders and plan to do general road/path riding along with occasional light touring.

Thanks for the advice,
Dave

TandemGeek

You'll find some articles linked off of this page that may be of interest:
https://www.thetandemlink.com/Learnin...l#anchor356041

wxlidar

Thanks for the link, TandemGeek.

A few things came to mind today while thinking of the bike. I'd like to hear anyones comments on the following:

-carbon forks. I've read they help with comfort but what about safety? Plus I was thinking of going with disk brakes. I worry about stress on the fork.

-Disk brake up front, disk or rim on the rear and a drum brake. We have hills around here so the drum is necessary. Are disks overkill with the drum?

-Suspended Brooks saddle for the stoker instead of a suspension seatpost.

Thanks,
Dave

TandemGeek

carbon forks. I've read they help with comfort but what about safety?

If you want comfort, run a larger diameter tire with lower air pressure: that's the most cost effective approach.

If you want to reduce the weight of your tandem and enjoy the side benefit of improved vibration dampening without giving up your rock-hard racing wheels and tires, a carbon fork is a good choice. Now, let's be candid here: a well-made carbon fork that has been designed for use on a tandem will not outlast a well-made steel fork made for a tandem. However, so long as it's not damaged it will provide many, many years of safe and secure service... as evidenced by teams who have logged thousands upon thousands of miles on them with few if any reports of catastrophic failures. Sure, some of them get damaged in crashes or from mis-handling, and some of the earlier super-lightweight models weren't as durable as they could have been. However, the recognizable brand name models sold for tandems today all seem to be very durable, well-designed, and carefully inspected/tested products.

Plus I was thinking of going with disk brakes. I worry about stress on the fork

If the fork and front wheel are designed to work with a 203mm disc, then there's not much to worry about.

-Disk brake up front, disk or rim on the rear and a drum brake. We have hills around here so the drum is necessary. Are disks overkill with the drum?

If you need a drum, then pair it up with rim brakes. If you're not sure if you need a drum, but think you need something with more heat capacity than a rim brake, then a rear disc + front rim brake is a good combination. If you find yourself looking at a Cannondale RT that comes stock with front & rear discs and your dealer thinks they're a good choice, then they probably are. However, I'm not sure I'd spend the money to upgrade a bike to dual discs if a front/rear rim drum would be a better choice for how I'll ride, or even a front rim / rear disc.

-Suspended Brooks saddle for the stoker instead of a suspension seatpost.

Only if the stoker is already a big fan of Brooks saddles... or is willing to go through the Brooks initiation ritual.

specbill

Congrats on your soon to be new tandem..the best I can offer is ..."in doubt on anything, go with Mel's recommendations' and you'll never regret it.

Bill J.

wxlidar

Thanks again for the replies!

I've talked to Mel over the phone and he recommended a carbon fork with rim brakes front and back along with the drum brake. I need to keep in mind the years and miles of experience that Mel has and really heed his advice.

I'll return with an update.

Thanks,
Dave

Retro Grouch 

1. Start and stop the same way every time so there's never any confusion about what each of you are doing.

2. Just before you hit a bump, say: "Bump."

TandemGeek

The Speedster with carbon fork is a nice package, although I believe you end up with a caliper brake up front and cantilevers in back unless you: a) go with the canti-version of the Wound-Up carbon fork or, b) do a special order and have the rear brake mount switched to a center-drilled brake bridge for a caliper as I'm not sure they come with canti-bosses and the caliper mount standard.

It's worthwhile to note that the Speedster's different fork options all use different amounts of fork rake and in one case a different length fork, although not everyone will necessarily notice the differences without speeding a lot of time on tandems with the different configurations.

The stock, chromoly fork is their benchmark for handling with 50mm of rake, considered 'sporty' compared to a Santana, Burley, or Trek which use 55mm of rake. In fact, Trek designed their new carbon tandem fork with that same 50mm of rake for the T2000 and before it left the tandem biz, Burley added a True Temper carbon fork to it's "race" model package with 48mm of fork rake. Now, there's a lot more that goes into how a tandem will handle than the fork design/specs, noting that frame design and stiffness characteristic, wheels, and tires/inflation levels can influence handling as much as or more than the fork alone. However, if you're test riding the same frame with different forks (for example Speedster and Supremo use the same frame), it's pretty much apples-to-apples.

The carbon forks used by Co-Motion are the Wound-up with 45mm of rake in both the caliper and canti versions. While it's not as light as the True Temper Alpha Q X2 fork that Co-Motion also offers, it's a bit stiffer which is a good thing for heavier teams or for teams that just prefer a more sure-footed feeling in the front-end of their tandem. The Alpha Q uses 44mm of rake which isn't much different from the Wound-Up; however, what is different is the fork leg length: the Alpha Q uses 374mm fork legs, whereas the Wound-Up uses 387mm legs... which are about the same length as the Co-Motion chromoly steel legs. Therefore, tandems fitted with the Alpha Q that weren't built around it's shorter leg length end up with a slightly lower front bottom bracket height and slightly steeper effective head and seat tube angles. Our '98 Erickson went from a 395mm steel fork to the 374mm Alpha Q in 2002 and it took about 3 or 4 rides to get adjusted to the change. If you started out with the Alpha Q, you'd never know the difference.

Absolutely... but you also need to make sure he understands your biases and preferences and you should recognize that he -- just like all of us -- has his own set of biases and preferences with respect to tandems. For a first tandem, it's not a big deal... as it's hard to make a mistake with the products that Mel or any of the other well-qualified tandem dealers whom we often refer to offer. However, as you come up the learning curve and learn more about what you like and don't like those biases and preferences become a bit more obvious and can make "negotiations" on subsequent bikes or, worse yet, custom models a bit more lively. Sometimes consumers are just flat-out wrong-minded about things that they think would work well and those can make for some heated debates. Ultimately, the really good dealers like Mel will always try to steer clients to the 'best' and 'most reliable' solutions because they make for satisfied customers (which is goodness) and eliminate problematic bikes (which is badness).

wxlidar

First, thanks for the additional advice everyone.

My wife and I enjoyed an afternoon at Mel's place. We test rode a Co-Motion Premiera (L/S) and Speedster (L) as well as a Cannondale Road Tandem 2 (X/M). These tandems fit within our budget and had the features that we wanted.

First was the Speedster. We had no trouble getting under way and the ride was very comfortable. We we're hooked right away. This was the bike we were really interested in however the size was not ideal. My wife fit fine but there would be no room for a suspension seatpost.

Next we took out the Premiera. It was a large/small size and what we expected we would need. My wife appreciated the extra standover. The ride was similar to the Speedster but we liked the better component set of the Speedster.

We then took out the Cannondale and immediately noticed the effect of the aluminum: road buzz. The frame was nice and stiff but we worried over a long ride it might be tiring.

In the end we settled on a Speedster. We stuck with the stock fork, rim brakes and the drum brake in back. Mel is going to set up the drum with a MTB brake handle for the stoker. We are also getting 40 spoke wheels front and back, thud-buster seatpost for the stoker and the flight deck computer.

We should have the bike in 4-5 weeks and are really looking forward to a great season!

Thanks,
Dave

specbill

Thanks for the update Dave....clearly you did your home work well and ended up with a great ride. Nice going!
Bill J.

wxlidar

Thanks Bill. I realized that researching tandems online would only get me so far and visit to a dealer would be necessary. It is too much of an investment to take a chance. Fortunately we live within a drivable distance to Mel (~4 hours). I'm very happy that the trip turned out so well.

-Dave