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Submitted by
Mark Stoughton
a Weekend Warrior
from Norton, MA USA
Date Reviewed: November 15, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$995.00 | | Purchased At: | Harris Cyclery | | Strengths: | The component set is very good for an inexpensive tandem. Contrary to the other reviewers, I love the seats and handlebars. The deraileurs work better than ones on some of my single bikes. The frame gives a great ride, although adult stokers require the suspension seatpost. | | Weaknesses: | Tires. While I like the ride and handling of the tires, the sidewalls on both front and rear tires gave out after only about a hundred miles or so, and the tires needed to be replaced. The good news is that the failure is slow, and I never got a blowout. The tires (Kenda 841C) are also impossible to get replacements for, because Kenda apparently sells them only to the manufacturer as OEM tires. After several attempts to order them, my LBS finally had to take the tires off a floor model.
The chainstays are a little short. It creates a large angle from the bottom bracket to the dropouts, and larger stokers may clip the chainring with their heels. | | Similar Products Used: | KHS, Burley, trailerbikes | | Bike Setup: | Stock, with an extra seat/seatpost for my 8 year old son stoker, because the original suspension seatpost would not allow his seat to go low enough for a proper fit. | | Bottom Line: | I love this bike! My son's friends call it the "Limo Bike", and it rides like one. It is actually the bike that I would prefer to ride full time if I could have readily available stokers. It handles like a dream, and the shifting is precise and smooth. The only thing that it looses points for is the short tire life. I wouldn't change anything else about the bike. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Randy Henderlite
a Cross Country Rider
from Glendale, AZ. USA
Date Reviewed: May 10, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Estrella Park | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1000.00 | | Purchased At: | Golden Spoke, Glendale AZ | | Strengths: | Great bike and the price is right. Paint and welds were well done and the components were in line with the price. Easily upgradeable with disc-brake mounts, front and rear, nice touch. Brakes have held up well but this is street bike, not made for serious off road. Jury still out on the Alex rims, but they have been great so far with some hard miles on them. | | Weaknesses: | Handle bars and grips were the first to go after the first ride, I hated the grips. Seats OK but they will be the next changeout. Handle bars had to go and were replaced with cow horns in the rear and flat bar on the front, Cane Creek ergo bars ends added the final touches. Great set-up for us. | | Similar Products Used: | KHS, Several Burleys | | Bike Setup: | Now for the changes to the components. Crank set replaced with FSA tandem triple, frame modified to use for top pull Shimano FD403 front der. , XTR rear der, XT cassette, Shim. flatbat road bike shifters with Salsa Moto Ace stem. Contin. tires, clipless for me, stoker still in the clips | | Bottom Line: | First time to ride a tandem and also looking for something the wife and I could do together. We love this bike and we can really roll with this set-up. As stated in the previous review I read Sheldon Brown's site on tandems and then went out and tried different brands, high and low end, and this bike met out needs for the price and allowed me to upgrade at a reasonable price and get what I wanted. Thank You Sheldon. I have to be reminded that the Stoker is always right but one improvement is that I don't wait for her anymore. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ray McCoy
a Weekend Warrior
from Newton NC USA
Date Reviewed: April 24, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1000.00 | | Purchased At: | Ride-A-Bike, Lincolnton NC | | Strengths: | Outstanding value for the price. A great way for newbie teams to try out riding a "whole bike". Decent, name brand spec. Nice welds and paint. | | Weaknesses: | Pretty much for pavement or fire roads only. Wouldn't take it off into the boonies. Heavy, clunky tires. Stock handle bars sweep back too much. | | Similar Products Used: | None (first tandem, but we have 9 other single bikes between us) | | Bike Setup: | Both sets of handle bars had to go. Swapped for Titec DH in front and Rocky Mt. low riser in the rear to get more rise (front) and less sweep (both). Also replaced grips with Specialized Body Geometry grips. Stock saddles (WBT) are OK, but our butts wanted their old friends. Replaced pedals with SPDs. Put on Michelin tires because I like 'em. Ditto Salsa Moto Ace stem. Sigma Targa computer. And the large size Incredibell so we can wave and "ding" back to all the folks who smile and wave at us.
| | Bottom Line: | Confession time: I'm an old roadie with a wife who is a novice rider. We thought trying a tandem would be fun, and after doing some reading and poking around on the web (thanks, Sheldon Brown!), we decided a MTB style tandem would be best to start with. This Raleigh caught my attention first because of the price, but after seeing one in person and trying it out we were sold. The spec is much better than the less expensive SC model, the weight is much less than the SC, and it comes set up to mount disc brakes for those so inclined. Our only complaint was getting sore hands due to the design of the stock handle bars, hence the bar swap. Riding this thing is a ball! It's not a rocket - unless you're going down a hill - but it's comfortable and handles well. The rear suspension seat post keeps the stoker happy even if I miss calling out a bump, and even though the frame is aluminum it's stout enough to not transmit road shocks to the team. Shifting is quite good, especially considering the long cable runs. And the stock v-brakes seem quite up to the task even for a combined team/bike weight of close to 400 lbs. I would not consider this a true off-road bike, but for great fun on pavement, fire roads, rail trails and such I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything else close to this tandem without spending quite a bit more. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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