80s Motobecane Interclub Tandem

[grantoury]

Very elegant looking tandem, and someone did some clever upgrading. For 200 it is a bargain, I think.

 

[BlokeFromStoke]

We finally got out on the Tandem today! We took it to the local park first and had a go with no traffic. At first we felt pretty wobbly haha. We took turns in swapping from captain to stoker to try and figure out the wobble. After a while though we just got used to it and decided to cycle a couple of miles on the road.

Heres a terrible still from a video we took in the park.



If anyone knows south Manchester we set off towards Tatton park going through Hale. We decided to press on to Tatton which was a lot of fun and a bit easier when two of you are peddling .
As we we're heading up through the gates of Tatton I put it into 4th and all the pedals went slack, jumped off to see a chain in the road!! I thought at this point it was completely knackard but noticed half a link next to the chain. We couldnt find the other half link though. Tried calling a few bike shops but everything was shut or only did E bikes and couldnt help (apparently). After chatting to some cyclists who didn't have any tools and said we might not get much sympathy from other cyclists on a tadem (is that a thing?) I said lets have one last look with the torch on the phone. Luckily my misses found it and we we're back on the move. Lesson learned!! buy spare chain links and a pouch for basic tools.

Celebrated at the cafe with a scone and cup of tea. We definitely want to use this more! I'm sure we'll get to use it round town but it would be nice to get it in the car somehow and take it to a dedicated cycling root.

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Ok... I dont know how we quite got here but I bought a tandem. Well I do actually. It went... We're at the Pub, turned to my girlfriend and went "we should get a tandem", straight on ebay and seeing some cheap ones, she said lets do it (bear in mind I buy old stuff all the time she hate)... next think I'm bidding on this local Motobecane Tandem (again with beer in hand) and won it!!

We actually missed out on a Dawes Tandem in Northwich a few weeks ago that was a bit more modern than this bike but, I've always wanted to own a Motobecane. When I was younger my Dad bought a few old 40s rod brake style bikes from Les Oaks in Stoke-on-Trent. One of those was actually a Royal Enfield tandem which never got finished due to struggling to find the parts pre ebay. As I wanted something too I convinced him to buy me a Motobecane racing bike for about £15 that was also in the pile. Of course I was a kid so nothing happened with it and I'm pretty sure he cut it up and threw it away so, now I finally own one haha.

On the morning of picking it up. the seller mentioned the pedals on the bike were the clip in Shimano type so I gingerly rode the bike the 5 miles home in Adidas Gazelles.
Heres a terrible selfie...
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Oh yeah I forgot to mention. After figuring out when we could both pick the bike up my misses came down with a virus so It was just me riding down the canal back to south Manchester solo. Im not sure if theres anything sadder than a person riding a bike made for two?

Hers another look at it...
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Stopped for a brew to celebrate... It rides really nicely. The gears all seem really nice, the brakes are good. Nothing is bent like my usual old bikes... All for less than £200 doesnt seem bad to me?!?
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Today I decided to remove the shimano pedals and fit some new ones.

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Took this old beast out (anyone whos seen my Carlton racing bike thread will recognise this ). Its not left the garage in a few weeks...

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And picked up some cheap retroish pedals from Decathlon. They're not the best but I dont know if Tandem life will work for us yet so these will do...

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And here we are...

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I'll keep you all posted with how it goes. My misses is away now till Sunday with work so hopefully we'll get some riding in soon. Any tips or knowlage of these bikes would be great. I'm guessing its a 90s or newer bike? Seems nicely spec'd up with the dynamo in the front hub and all the shimano stuff on it?

So sad, but love those trainers...

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

We finally got out on the Tandem today! We took it to the local park first and had a go with no traffic. At first we felt pretty wobbly haha. We took turns in swapping from captain to stoker to try and figure out the wobble. After a while though we just got used to it and decided to cycle a couple of miles on the road.

Heres a terrible still from a video we took in the park.

View attachment 738032

If anyone knows south Manchester we set off towards Tatton park going through Hale. We decided to press on to Tatton which was a lot of fun and a bit easier when two of you are peddling .
As we we're heading up through the gates of Tatton I put it into 4th and all the pedals went slack, jumped off to see a chain in the road!! I thought at this point it was completely knackard but noticed half a link next to the chain. We couldnt find the other half link though. Tried calling a few bike shops but everything was shut or only did E bikes and couldnt help (apparently). After chatting to some cyclists who didn't have any tools and said we might not get much sympathy from other cyclists on a tadem (is that a thing?) I said lets have one last look with the torch on the phone. Luckily my misses found it and we we're back on the move. Lesson learned!! buy spare chain links and a pouch for basic tools.

Celebrated at the cafe with a scone and cup of tea. We definitely want to use this more! I'm sure we'll get to use it round town but it would be nice to get it in the car somehow and take it to a dedicated cycling root.
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Fantastic, always good to get the girls involved. Cycling is too sausage festy, yes it's a word now. I would struggle to find a tandem that would fit us both sadly.

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Fantastic, always good to get the girls involved. Cycling is too sausage festy, yes it's a word now. I would struggle to find a tandem that would fit us both sadly.

Sausage, or festy?

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

Sausage, or festy?

Festy

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Festy

and it's meaning?

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

and it's meaning?

Same as fest with an added "y" for style. Any further information required, I got nuthin..

 

[chickendrumsticks]

Same as fest with an added "y" for style. Any further information required, I got nuthin..

Fair enough.

 

[squirrelchaser]

and it's meaning?

Like festival man . Have you never been to a sausage festival ?