We've ridden a 700c steel Trek tandem from the early '90s for a number of years w/ 35c tires and fenders. I'm big (6'7"), stoker small (5'2"), team weight somewhere around 340 total. Ridden mostly on road, but on some non-pave trials, the worst of which was the C&O Canal (roots, rocks, mud, and ruts), and while a little extra cush would sometimes be good, we've been fine. We bought our Trek used and really enjoyed it.
That said, we've been saving our pennies for several years and have ordered a custom Bilenky 650b randonneur/travel S&S coupled bike that is designed for Hetres w/fenders. You are right in your observation that the majority of stock road tandem makers (esp. Santana) seem to be trying to emulate single bike styling and design w/ low spoke count wheels w/ narrow tires. There are a few exceptions, but custom is not too far off the cost of an upmarket stock bike, so if the budget allows I'd definitely go custom (or look for a deal on a used bike w/ room for at least 35c tires and semi-sensible geometry). Julian Westerhout Bloomington, IL On Thursday, February 7, 2013 12:53:35 AM UTC-6, Salween wrote: > > Don't know if Grant and Co. will ever produce a tandem, so in the meantime > will be getting one elsewhere. > > Seems like most tandems out there follow the skinny tire theme, with the > exception of R+E in Seattle and Bilenky in Philadelphia, and even their > tire clearances don't seem to push as far north as nearly all Riv singles. > So wondering if there are any tandem riders here and what tire widths they > prefer. On my Sam I ride 33/35mm tires often on marginal roads. So > wondering what that might translate to on a 700c tandem? > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
