This bike hasn't seen the light of day in a while....

[Dirt]

I would guess it is still a week or so away from being ready for the trails. It is actually starting to look like a bike though.

http://myroadtrips.peterbeers.net/mbrt/Bike_Repair/Project_Phoenix/I_MG_1454.JPG

I've missed riding the tandem. I'm fortunate enough to have a few people who are willing to stoke for me.

See you on the trails.

Peter

[MantraMan]

Come on out to Rosaryville Peter and we'll put it through the paces!! :eek: :eek: :D
Todd

[Dirt]

That's the plan. Rosaryville is PERFECT For riding a tandem. The trails are nice and twisty and pretty dang buff. We'll do some rougher trails with the thing as we get used to riding it again, but starting out we'll be sticking with places like Rosaryville, Cedarville, Schaeffer and Accotink. The twisties in the Wakefield bowls will be a heck of a lot of fun too. ;)

I'm psyched to get it out. Derailleurs, shifters and the final touches on the brakes will be done tonight. I'm waiting for cranks to arrive and some real tires, then it will be pretty much ready to go. :)

I even did a custom paint job (no runs, drips or errors) on the frame where the old softride suspension used to be.

Peter

[markie@unformat]

Some of the most crazy fun I have ever had was on a mountain bike tandem in the snow.... It was hilarious falling off every few yards.

As the stoker, I recommend at the beginning of any technical section or small gap to put in a couple of extra hard pedal strokes to scare the shit out of the pilot.

[Dirt]

As the stoker, I recommend at the beginning of any technical section or small gap to put in a couple of extra hard pedal strokes to scare the shit out of the pilot.

Teams where the stoker and captain enjoy giving each other grief are fun for a while... but you gotta learn when to turn it off. I've had a blast goofing with different stokers over the years. One of the coolest feelings is cleaning a tough, technical section that you didn't think you could. That requires that both of you be in perfect sync. Joking around and goofing off actually helps that.

Can you tell that I'm psyched to get back on this thing??? ;)

Peter

[DKEG]

Earl Scheib will paint that bike for $99.95

[MantraMan]

Peter,
Sounds like it's coming along well!
Keep me posted, do you think it'll be ready for the
Christmas ride????
Todd :eek: ;)

[Dirt]

It took a turn for the worse. There is a crack in the brake lever which caused a catastrophic leak in the master cylander.

My guess is that there will be an early January ETA for the Tandem on the trails.

Peter

[HeadSet]

Brakes, you don't need brakes, all they will do is slow you down

[Dirt]

Brakes, you don't need brakes, all they will do is slow you down

Hahahahha... Let me just say, if there is one thing that you want on a 400 pound bike (including riders) it is brakes.... really good brakes.

For those with high speed internet connections, I found this video of a bunch of people having fun on tandems...

Bloody Muddy Tandem Ride (http://www.singletrackworld.com/video/STWTandem.wmv)

Having some pretty dang big tires seems to help too. Someday I'll get the $$$$ to build a full suspension tandem. That someday may come next year. We'll see how the tax man does me in April. :)

Peter

[jks9199]

Having some pretty dang big tires seems to help too. Someday I'll get the $$$$ to build a full suspension tandem. That someday may come next year. We'll see how the tax man does me in April. :)

Peter

OK, I didn't have time to look at the video...but how would you build a full suspension tandem? I can't imagine how things would hook up...unless maybe both seatposts shared one suspension point?

Jim

[Dirt]

I've got a friend who runs a tandem shop. He's got one of last year's models as a demo bike. It is a weird size that will accomodate a very tall captain (me) and a variety of stokers. Here's what it looks like.

http://www.mtbtandems.com/images/ventspec1.jpg

There are more photos and information on Ventana's web site (http://www.ventanausa.com/frame_elconquistador.html).

My friend Eric who was giving me grief about my obsessive need for rear brakes rides one with his wife. It definitely adds a new level of comfort for the stoker or in the case of Julian (or Jason) and I, opens up new places that we can go and get into trouble. :) Since the stoker top tube is really low and my legs are pretty long, we shouldn't have too much trouble adding the 6" travel kit and some taller forks. We'll see how that turns out.

That is all conjecture at this point, however. We have to see how our year end goes before I can even think about getting a bonus.

Peter

[ScottRS]

Peter,

Let us know when the first MORE Tandem ride will be held. My 7 year old son and I are defintely in. We've been riding ours on paved and dirt roads for the past 6 months and finally took it over to Schaeffer on Saturday AM. Had a blast. My son said "This is WAY better than riding on the road. Can we come back again tomorrow?"

So anyway, we're up for a club tandem ride.

Scott

[HeadSet]

Pete:

You can count on me, the Mrs and the big green bike being there too! We could put the word out of the DF site as well...who knows who we might attract...tandem folks seem to be willing to drive a ways to ride with other tandems.