beginner's tandem?

[mimitabby]

I'm 5'8" and she's 5'1".

V, what is a "small/small"? I'll look up the bikes after work today.

Hey, Trek passed her electronics tech test today!

okay, you're 1/2" taller than Raleighdon. Great news on the Trek Test~!

[Veronica]

It's the sizing of each of the compartments. The compartments are both labeled as small, but the stoker's top tube is about 1.5 inches shorter than the captain's. I've ridden in both positions on it. I'm 5'5" (almost) and the stoker's compartment is a little small for me. It seemed fine until I started riding a single! The captain's is a bit of a reach, but not awful. I did Cinderella on it as captain.

If you guys want to try it out, you're more than welcome to next time you come down this way.

V.

[salsabike]

Ours would also probably fit you guys for a test ride.

It's a 91 Burley Duet, and we got it at your favorite LBS for $350. So don't forget to check there and see if they have anything. We've put a little over 4000 miles on it in the two years we've had it.

[KnottedYet]

Salsa - $350!!!!!!!?!?! Oh, MAN!!! I'll ask Andy and Paul and Spike and the rest of 'em to keep an eye out for me! Golly gee willakers!

V - I will be down in CA the weekend before the Cindy. I'm only there for the weekend, but we'll see how things shake down. Sounds like a small/small would be just about right for us. Please PM me when you are ready to sell your tandem, just in case.

V and Mimi - neither of us knows how to ride tandem, but I'm thinking it's a good way for us to be able to stay together on rides. I'd be captain, since I can hear through both ears and have the big burly muscles (!) aka longer arms and legs therefore more leverage.

[Veronica]

What weekend is the Cinderella?

V.

[KnottedYet]

I'll be there the weekend of the 22nd of March. The Cindy is the next weekend.

[Veronica]

Maybe we could do a flat delta ride that weekend. You can try out the tandem. Unless you'd like to ride up Diablo.

V.

[Trek420]

okay, you're 1/2" taller than Raleighdon. Great news on the Trek Test~!

Thanks, full details of the Trek tech test over in thread drift.

knott, you saying I can't keep up with you?

[KnottedYet]

knott, you saying I can't keep up with you?

No. Just saying I want to be closer to you at all times.... And I'm just naturally bossy, so I yearn to be a tandem captain. yeah. that's it.

[Trek420]

good answer

[KnottedYet]

Well, lets tentatively plan to try everyone's tandems when we're both in SF and when we're both in WA. Thanks for your generosity V, Mimi, and Salsa! You guys are great!

I'll put a bug in ReCy's ear about keeping an eye out for another miracle tandem like Salsa's.

This could be fun!

[KnottedYet]

Had a great time hanging out with my guys at Recycled Cycles. They are gonna keep an eye out for a cheap/decent tandem for me. (a la Salsa's) They had a barely-used "comfort" Diamondback tandem for $520, which was kinda frightening. Ewww.

They also have a new Raliegh Coupe (flat bar road) tandem. Disc brakes and other nice goodies. With my Team Survivor discount a new one would be $840. And a used custom Rodriguez with S+S couplers. That was a gorgeous, but weird bike. The stoker compartment was HUGE and the captain's was tiny. They said it had been made for a two-women couple. I know who wore the pants in that family...

Anyway, they were all ready to send me out on the Raleigh alone to get the feel of it, but I didn't have time today.

I love my LBS.

[carolp]

I'm doing the SF to LA AIDS ride on a Trek T-100 Tandem. It's a large because we both are. It's a hybrid tandem, but we changed the tires, wheels and cassette to have some good climbing gears. We may get new wheels before the ride to make it lighter.
I think I would classify ours as a "beginner" tandem, though I've rode others and am not sure what the difference would be.
The most important thing is to make sure it fits both the captain and the stoker.

[Trek420]

Hey Carolp,

I'll see you in June if not earlier on a training ride or such. That'll be 7 TE'ers on the long ride.

Maybe we can do a group photo or ride out together one or more of the days.

If you want I'll add you to my footer, just need your rider number.

[carolp]

I'm 6009, my husband is 6008.
I'm blogging; he's adding silly pictures to his home page.
We got a little screwed up and started fundraising before we got a team number, so we decided we would just continue with our own pages.
I'll also be blogging for UCSF Medical Center on the road. We have lots of volunteers.
We haven't trained with any other tandems. We live in Marin and usually do the rides our of Sports Basement or Mike's Bikes in Sausalito.