Submitted by
Cuchara
a Cross Country Rider
from Wooster Ohio US
Date Reviewed: June 28, 2010
Strengths: A Very Quick Tandem. The frame feels like it hugs the road and tiny adjustments translate easily to bike. Nice gearing for flats and moderate hills.
Weaknesses: Nothing glaring. Shifter cables not well anchored. Needed to add three zip ties to stabilize and avoid shift chatter. A larger grinder gear on chain ring would have been better. When stoker stands on hills. Bike wobbles more than other Tandems we have had during standing stoker mode, but this is a worthy trade off for the responsive frame in non-standing modes.
Bottom Line:
The Cannondale L/S Geometry is really the only good fit for truly L and S riding pair.
We have been a Tandem Couple for 10 years and have ride time in many places.
Captain at 6-0 195 and Stoker at 5-1 105 make for a tough fit. We tried two different Santana set ups and borrowed a co-motion (which was a little better than Santana) before finding the wonderful Geometry of this bike.
If you are an average to large captain with a small stoker, this is your bike. It is light, fast, nimble and really is an L/S. Most others are an L/Mish or are an Mish/S. We tried perhaps 10 tandems from various makers in bike shop rides.
Cannondale did a really good job with this unit. Interestingly it actually rides in a more stable way while towing the BOB trailer with 30 pounds of gear. We have now have two years of riding in, Perhaps 40 day trips and 2 long tours. Very positive on this bike.
Similar Products Used: Two Santanas (owned), One Schwin (owned) One Raliegh (still owned) and one Co-Motion (borrowed)
Bike Setup: 2008 Road 2, disk brakes, as delivered + wide spears and trailer hubs for B.O.B. Cargo Trailer.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Rob
a Weekend Warrior
from Gloucester City NJ USA
Date Reviewed: September 28, 2008
Strengths: Disc brakes, quality gear set and shifters, light and strong frame- available in a Jumbo/large frame for a large team (I am 6'4", wife 5'10"), and nice paint
Weaknesses: We are a large team over 450 lbs. The stock Continental tires and Mavic rims with a Cross 3 lacing pattern could not handle the load. I spent an additional $800 for 35c tires, new stainless spokes (for a Cross 4 pattern=strength), and new 27.5 mm wide rims.
Bottom Line:
Cannondale makes a quality product and the bike is quite good for most people. I do not fit in the "most" category. I wrote this as a precautionary tale for people who are big or might load up their tandem for a cross country tour (with a lot of luggage). I crashed with this bike, only to find out later from various websites, that the wheels and tires were not up to the task in my application.
Strengths: Good value for the money on an entry level tandem. Stiff frame provides good power transfer.
Weaknesses: Cannondale spec'd some parts that should not be used on a tandem - see comments below. Short stoker cockpit length in X/M (Captain 6'0", Stoker 5'8") We fit the bike based on the Captain and didn't realize until much later how short the Stoker cockpit length is. Captain's seat uncomfortable (Fi:zi'k Aliente Delta) This seat caused numbness in short order, and you tend to spend more time in the saddle on a tandem.
Bottom Line:
This bike really is a good value for the money. I made a mistake and purchased the bike locally through a shop that didn't have tandem experience and didn't set the bike up properly. Make sure that you buy from a shop that knows tandems! Additionally, there were some problems from the factory that a good tandem shop should catch.
Here the things to watch for: 1. They used standard brake cable housing instead of CompressionLESS housing. This causes the brakes to be mushy. Factory housing must be changed out! 2. The crank set had the wrong type of middle chainring causing the shifting to be inhibited. It works, but can work much better. The mechanic I have working on the tandem now was able to call TruVatiV and have them send the correct middle chainring. 3. Rear derailleur hanger was not straight from the factory and made it difficult to get the rear shifting working properly. Make sure the bike shop checks this. 4. The wheels were not correctly tensioned/trued, so they felt mushy and flexed a lot. This caused the brakes to have to be adjusted out to clear when the wheel flexed which further aggravated the mushy brakes. Make sure that the bike shop is comfortable working on a 40 spoke wheel.
I believe a good tandem shop would address most of these shortcomings.
We purchased a tandem because on our singles we have difficulty riding at the same pace. We struggle with pedaling at the same cadence, but are working it out.
I would recommend this tandem to a couple looking for their first tandem (make sure you have demo'd some tandems to see if you can ride together, there is definitely a technique to it and some people just aren't compatible on a tandem)
Similar Products Used: Demo'd a Raleigh Tandem - enjoyed it so much that we wanted to buy our own. Looked at Co-Motion, Santana, Trek - all more expensive and couldn't see paying that much for our first tandem
Bike Setup: 2007 Cannodale Road Tandem X/M Ultegra shifters, derailleurs Avid BB7 Brakes Speeedplay X5 (Captain) & SPD (Stoker) 38 lbs with pedals & bottle cages
Strengths: Awesome disc brakes!!! Excellent Components! Great price and looks great too! Also comes with suspension seat post for the rear.
Weaknesses: Hmmm..... rear saddle not women friendly.
Bottom Line:
I have always enjoyed tandems! this one is super solid and has disc brakes. The Trek tandems i looked at were much more costly and did not have disc brakes. On Guam we have lots of rain. Flying down hills in wet conditions requires great brakes!! Disc brakes are a "MUST HAVE" on tandems! I am very very happy with this Cannondale!!
Strengths: Build quality. Very Good level of equipment. People will always wave and say hello when you are on a Tandem. You can have a nice easy ride to the cafe, or a damn good workout.
Weaknesses: Rear brake pads rubbing, does take some adjusting. Struggle to get panniers on due to the disk brakes. Cannondales cost a fortune here in blighty.
Bottom Line:
Tandems are ace fun, and this is the best road Tandem to do it on. We tested the Trek T2000 (which cost a fair bit more) and prefered the Cannondale. The Trek had lovely trick Bontrager wheels and that nearly sold it to me, but at the end of the day we did the right thing.
[B]B100 LIMITED
Registered No. 05858455
25 ESTATE ROAD,
CRADLE HILL INDUSTRIAL ESTATE,
SEAFORD, EAST SUSSEX, BN25 3JE
CONTRY ;UNITED KINGDOM
Bike world Ltd is one of the le Read More »
e sell all kinds Cannondale, Cervelo, Ellsworth, Giant, Jamis, Klein, Kona, Litespeed, Rocky Mountain, Santa Cruz, Specialized, Trek, Gary Fisher bikes.
For Further Informations Read More »
Just wanted to send out that Team Breeze will be hosting an Off Road Tandem Weekend at the Allegrippis Trail System at Lake Raystown, PA this June 2011.
The "official" days will b Read More »
Hi Guys looking for some good lights for easy off road rides not doing any Crazy Speeds or Jumping......
I would like to spend no more then $100 with so many brands and types not Read More »
WORTA - by MTBtandems
On behalf of MTBtandems, we are looking to see who all would be interested in a Winter Off Road Tandem Rally Adventure in Ocala, FL.
If there are enou Read More »
