I don't have a whole lot of tandem experience, but I am looking forward to changing the captain's drop bars on my new-to-me Santana Vision (later changed to Fusion? Anyway, similar 26" bike with fat tire capabilities) to Albatross or similar upright bars. We've tested it enough for me to know that I will much prefer the more upright position (my stoker being my tall for his age six and a half year old). I had a similar dislike of the drops on my 650b Follis. In fact, I think I will not only get more comfort with the uprights, but also* more* control, with very little loss of speed, especially when on the curves. Win win win! I suspect many of the captains with drops ride them because that's what the bicycle came with and the thought of changing them out never crossed their minds. I believe Grant has suggested the lower profile Chocos for the captain and Boscos for the stoker as being one good choice for this bicycle. The Jones bar is also highly regarded on this list, and offers a few hand positions for long rides. I would ask Rivendell directly about how it might work with drop bars.
Obviously the Riv tandem is not going to be a tandem rally speedster. It is falling squarely in the upright Riv category from what I can tell--a deluxe Schwinn Twinn is I think how Grant has referred to it, a family style tandem. Whereas, other than the very low end, the think alike bikes are the go fast, carbon, 11 speed, but with two seats. Even Santana only has one fat tire offering these days, an aluminum single speed cruiser with flat bars, 26" wheels, and belt drive for $3,000. Then the line goes right to 700c racing derived bicycles. Give me an HHH any day. Long cables are of course not unique to Riv tandems. If there is a lot of the run inside housing, might be worth it to try compressionless. Right now our main sync problem is the fact that, with the crank shorteners, he is spinning a 100mm crank, vs. the 135 on his single, plus just getting used to having to pedal when I pedal, vs. the Burley Piccolo being independent. By the end of the second test ride, he seemed fine. On Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 8:40:52 AM UTC-4, Michael Hechmer wrote: > > I have looked at the picture and the specs posted on hubbahubbha and find > myself with three concerns. First, I hope the bike can handle drop bars. > Since starting to ride a tandem 6 years ago my wife and I have done a > couple of three day rallies every year. I have no memory of seeing a > tandem with upright captain bars, other than recumbents. There may be > a number of reasons for this but in any case all the captains I see, who > are regular riders seem to prefer the added comfort & control of drop bars. > Second, the stoker compartment looks tight. We spread our out 6 cm beyond > what Santana & Co-Moion offer and than added Albatros bars. Pat really > likes the added space and not feeling like she is pressed up against my > back. Third, tandems create the worst possible case for shifting. They > have long cables that stretch a lot; the captain & stoker may have > difficulty coordinating pedal pressure during shifting; they require a > higher hi gear because its easy to spin out and they require a lower low > gear because they don't climb as effectively as a single. Finally the > captain and stoker often prefer different cadences making big jumps between > gears hard to satisfy both riders. > > I have wanted to see RBW get into this market because the big players > make a lot of think alike bikes. > > Michael > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 12:46:29 AM UTC-4, Manuel Acosta wrote: >> >> Tandem looks good. >> >> Rides good with the proper captain and stoker. >> >> Will and Roman can attest. >> >> Pictures proved that tandems are not slow up dirt roads (when you have >> the proper captain and stoker) >> https://flic.kr/s/aHskCvrS8H >> >> Manny "The stoker makes no mistakes" Acosta >> > -- 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 https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
