Well as usual, I posted on another forum and got zero response so I'm turning to my Homers for help. I've got an Aunt & Uncle who are looking to purchase a nice Canondale Tandem but are concerned about transporting it. Does anyone here have any experience with these monsters and transporting? If at all possible they would prefer to go with a hitch mount so they don't have to lift & put it on top of their SUV. Any ideas (pictures would also be great) or recommendations? Thanks for the help!

Otter,

Tandems great things if you have a soild relationship! We have been riding tandems for 10 years on and off road. A little Turner trivia here...DT did actually make one tandem that is rumored to be stil onthe trail someplace in Europe. This was way back in the day. When we got our new tandem made by V*******, we bugged DT to make another (as we both ride Turners). But as one would guess, tooling lack of demand...we could not get one. But if anyone is in the market Sherwood makes a GREAT tandem!!!


What was the question? Oh ,yeah transporting the monsters. First choic is a pick up truck. Sports rack make a car top version that is solid. As far as hitch mounted, I beleive Tail wind makes one. Check out http://www.thetandemlink.com/TLLinks.html#anchor810905 for a list of racks.

BTW, make sure to borrow the tandem if they get one. It is a blast. We can pretty much ride ours every where that we can ride our simgle bikes.

Bob W.
The Tandem Link - Links page

Ditto everything Bob said. The tandem is the ultimate date machine for my wife and I. We both get a great workout, end every ride within 2 feet of each other, completely eliminate the "one person waiting while the other is hammering" issue of couples biking, etc.

There are tons of ways to carry a tandem. Kinda in order of best to worst, here is what has worked for us:

1. The new Yakima twisting car-top rack. Unreal. The fork mount twists out and sideways, allowing loading from the side of the car, then you just lift/twist it onto the top of the car. Very expensive.

2. A Thule, Yakima, or Rocky Mount fork-mount rack (with the thick axle), on a single crossbar mounted pretty far forward on any vehicle with a standard roof-top rack (euro-rail, SUV, Minivan style, etc.). Clamp the fork into the mount, place the back wheel on the rear cross bar (or side rail) with a pad under it, and secure using a couple of good quality webbing straps. Obviously, this doesn't work so well if you are ultra-picky about the paint on the roof of your car.

3. Any rear-mounted rack. For clearance and traffic safety reasons, we have typically removed both front and rear wheels to reduce overhang when using this method.

That's the extent of my 15 years of tandem carrying experience. Haven't ever used a fancy, dedicated rear-mounted rack, but I'm sure they are out there.

Hope that helps!

Draftmaster makes a hitch-mount for tandems (draftmaster.com). I used to have one of their Sportflite racks that orients the bikes in the same direction as the vehicle, the same as a roof rack. Their tandem rack does the a similar thing only it mounts to the hitch, so I would presume the front end of the tandem would jut above the back of the SUV (like a vertical stabilizer)...but that's better IMO than, say, a rack that mounts the bike at a right-angle to vehicle path (most hitch racks). I've seen the latter, and the bike's wheels just stick out too far on either side of the vehicle, creating wind resistance like mad...plus I bet those tires reach out and grab things.

Anyway, I liked my Sportflite rack, it was well-made.

p.s. Tandems are awesome to draft behind :D

Otter,

Tandems great things if you have a soild relationship! We have been riding tandems for 10 years on and off road. A little Turner trivia here...DT did actually make one tandem that is rumored to be stil onthe trail someplace in Europe. This was way back in the day. When we got our new tandem made by V*******, we bugged DT to make another (as we both ride Turners). But as one would guess, tooling lack of demand...we could not get one. But if anyone is in the market Sherwood makes a GREAT tandem!!!





yup. Nick and Kirsty Wallace (IIRC) have it in the UK. There was an article in an early copy of Singletrack magazine about it.