Searching for Our Ultimate Tandem – Part 1

Nicole and I have begun the search for our next tandem. We have looked all over for single bikes and know pretty much what we want and what to look for in a single bike. Because of this we have made, what we felt, intelligent decisions on value and practicality with regard to our single bike purchases. Not all of this knowledge is directly transferable to tandems. So we have to start the learning process somewhere.

There are a few resources on the net that cater to tandem and tandem riding. The first place that I regularly visit is the Tandem Cycling Forum at BikeForums.net. There you will find many helpful posters that are always ready to give you advice or their opinions. They are a generally helpful bunch.

There are various other resources also available, one of the best places for all things tandem is the Tandem @ Hobbes mailing list. There is also a big site of tandem links and information called TheTandemLink, run and maintained by Mark Livingood, a two up rider from Georgia.

So the journey begins. We start out talking about what we are looking for in our next tandem. One of the things that limits us is the fact that our tandem experience is so small. One thing we have done to correct that is spend much more time riding our tandem this year than anytime in the past. It has helped us to articulate what it is exactly that we would improve on our current tandem.

So knowing that the Cannondale Road Tandem was our first tandem purchase and becoming familiar with its make-up and component selection, our first next step on the road to a new tandem was to start by upgrading what we didn’t like or felt hindered our enjoyment or performance on the current ride. I have documented many of the tandem upgrades we have made in previous posts:

Tandem Upgrades

Tandem Wheel Set

Tandem Hub Conversion

Tandem Wheel Building

The Tandem Wheels

Summary of Tandem Upgrades

Mark from TheTandemLink has written a series of articles on selecting a tandem and a primer on custom tandems, I have read each and every one. They have come in very handy when speaking to frame builders about our next tandem. I would suggest that anyone looking to get a new tandem please read some of Mark’s articles.

in the next installment we I will write about specifications and such. What it is that we are looking for and how we narrowed down the choices.