Hi Michael. When I said "tandem rally speedster" I was referring entirely to the bicycle. From what I can see, the majority of models from most tandem-specific makers are versions of the popular style of bicycle for club riding, regardless of age--tires on the skinny side, drop bars, latest bells and whistles, etc. T(here are also a few full on high-end mountain suspension bikes.)
I hear you on the tandem demographic, and some of the possible reasons. (Though there is this. <http://www.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/on-the-cover-angela-jimenez/Content?oid=2367931>) That's another great thing about the Rivendell tandem project, the idea of getting more people to try it. As far as discretionary funds, see reason number 2 (strong relationship, good communication) for why tandems can sometimes be found at very reasonable prices in the used marketplace. Though again I suspect that may not be the case so much with the HHH. I confess that most of my (single bike) longer rides have been with drop bars--tradition and the old racing bones, mostly. However, based on reports I have read here, and my many years of experience with comfort and hand placement on uprights for commuting and town riding, as well as slower but long timewise rides on upright singles with my son, I will not hesitate to take the upright bar tandem on longer mileage rides once my guy is ready. I have plans for at least a 20-miler by end of summer. (Long being relative these days.) I suspect as I enter my 60s, if I have the luxury of an occasional long recreational ride, it could very well be with upright bars. Anyway, I don't really see the HHH as a regular century tandem, though no doubt it could easily accomplish one. As I said about the drops, I think it hasn't dawned on the captains to try something else. It's not on the radar. It's not tradition. Look at the transition of Riv listers, many of whom probably went from drops, to drops with super tall stems, to uprights--and not necessarily because they were forced to due to ailment and/or age. And tires. Even though tandems probably benefit even more from wider tires, (and I would argue upright bars, too) you just don't see a lot of it in the club tandem world--the connotation being that fat tires and upright bars equal a not very serious ride with degraded performance characteristics. A Schwinn Twinn. That's a belief system tough to crack. That's why you should get an HHH and shatter some shibboleths and blow some minds! On Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 7:50:39 PM UTC-4, Michael Hechmer wrote: > > Do not associate the term rally with the term speedster. My experience > has been that there are more teams in the 80's than in their 20s, more in > their 70s than in their 30's and probably more in their 60's than in their > 40's. My 26 X 1.75 tires may be wider than avg but do not attract much > attention. However, I have not seen many captains with anything other than > drop bars. These are not usually set below saddle height but allow a > variety of body and hand positions on three or four hour rides. > > People don't get into tandems until they have a positive single > experience, a strong relationship with good communication, and a good bit > of discretionary funds. By then most are past racing, but not necessarily > past the thrill of a fast downhill. > > Michael > > > -- 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.
