I just got this note from Mike and Becky describing their first ride on the tandem and wanted to share. Thanks you two!
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Kevin,
I have meant to get a short ride report to you since we finally got on the tandem several weeks ago for a short ride. I was amazed at how well the bike rode, and absorbed bumps and vibrations. I thought that since this was their racing model, I would be sacrificing ride for stiffness, but it rides much nicer than our old Burley or my brother in law’s Santana Sovereign. I was use to having Becky subtly reminding me when I hit a bump by hearing an “ooff” as if I had struck her in the stomach or something. I never heard a sound on our ride, and even as the captain, I noticed a much improved ride. We love it.
One note, that I am sure you noticed, those 28mm wide Gatorskins are a nuisance with the brakes since you can’t just pop the wheels off and on, so I will switch those out with some 25mm Continental tires. I had used the 28′s on the old bikes, and had seen them spec’ed on other tandems so that is what I thought I needed, but the other bikes had cantilever brakes, or mtn. bike-like side pulls with much more clearance. I will get back to you with a short write up and a few pics of us with the bike.
Mike
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Note that there is a complete gallery of this tandem on Flickr.
