On Friday, my wife and I picked up a new Trek T900 - our first tandem - and took it to the relatively smooth singletrack of Rosaryville state park here in Maryland. I've never ridden a mountain tandem, much less on dirt. Besides it being very fun, my wife and I learned a few things about tandem biking, such as calling out bigger bumps and logs, when to level the pedals and which side to lean.
Saturday night, I swapped out a bunch of the components for better parts I had on the shelf, and in the morning, we took 'er out for another go at Rosaryville. I'm not sure how many pounds I dropped from the bike that night, but the positioning and the saddle were the most noticeable factors that changed for the better. Wife's 4'8" and I'm a foot taller so the standover works like a charm. We ended up riding a lot smoother, but we've still have a ways to go before it's butter.
It's a strange and exciting world, these tandems. We're antsy and want to go ride some more, if only the weather will cooperate. Hope y'all don't mind the upcoming questions.
Nice setup; now go ride the *%@# out of it and have fun!
BTW, You might consider shortening those cable housing runs on front before you snag a tree or something; that could be nasty .
Sorry to dig up an old thread but I was just wondering what your take on the bike was after you used it for a bit. I am looking for an inexpensive way to ride fire roads with the wife. I figured I could get one fairly cheap and throw some higher end components on that I have laying around, By the way my stroker is about 5' 6" do you think it would be too cramped?
Most common suggestion is to find a Cannondale. Better quality initially so you'll be happier with it, and much, much better resale should you find tandeming is not for you and yours, or if you find it IS for you and yours and you want to upgrade to full suspension.
That said, we started off-roading on a KHS 26" Tandemania, bought a fork and disc brakes for it too. We sold it after upgrading to a Ventana and we didn't even lose too much money on it. So other routes are possible than Cannondale.
Has anyone listed the rear disc brake kit individual parts in the kit from Precision Tandems? I'd like to research buying the parts for our T900 if it makes $ense to do so.
Originally Posted by tommignon
I think you can get Disc brake adapter from Precision Tandems I got one for my T1000