Additionally drop bar tandem is not for the novice, and the stoker will want a view of more than the pilot's arse cleavage.
clunky vintage gear change is harder to live with, adapting gears is a challenge on old kit, and swapping parts to make it work for you would be difficult.
Old tandems are usually worthless for a reason, and that's usability
To the 1940's Barra?? That's honestly not a good idea at all.
As mentioned, for the intended purpose a more modern, far-better performing bike would be a lot more suitable, however tempting the Barra might be. That's a bike to polish and pamper - for gentle pootles, not aggressive riding or "competition".
To the 1940's Barra?? That's honestly not a good idea at all.
As mentioned, for the intended purpose a more modern, far-better performing bike would be a lot more suitable, however tempting the Barra might be. That's a bike to polish and pamper - for gentle pootles, not aggressive riding or "competition".
Can you rent a Tandem from a bike hire shop anywhere near by .
Some Tandems tend to wallow horribly when putting the power in . ( power transfer)
We found it out when trying out the beginners models.
In the end I purchased a Mtb Cannondale frame . Had it built up by Mercians .
I ran out of bottle long before road holding became an issue.
Over sized alloy main tubes . Rode as if was on rails .
26 inch mtb wheel size .
Maxi car front hub . Campagnolo Tandem rear . Sunn rhino rims . All bomb proof .
Regretted we stopped riding it
Clip type headset ? 1 inch ?
I don't think a modern 1 1/8 one would fit
And I would definitely not use a converter to make a work round .
70 year old aluminium and a disc brake. Makes me shudder thinking about it .
Clip type headset ? 1 inch ?
I don't think a modern 1 1/8 one would fit
And I would definitely not use a converter to make a work round .
70 year old aluminium and a disc brake. Makes me shudder thinking about it
The Magura brakes seem a good shout. I was going to (temporarily) replace the fork with a more modern one but I think it's fine as is. As for the Barra frame itself, it's been in regular service for the past twenty years, and it's a proven bike. Last year it did a heavily laden tour of Sardinia. It's even done the PBP so I'm not worried about reliability. I doubt we'll be using it for anything other than pootling around the local lanes and villages over mostly flat terrain. I've no real ambitions to tour on it, far too fond of my gravel set up
I always wanted to try a tandem. Mrs non-fixie didn't. But when I finally found a nice Vittorio in our 64/52cm sizes she was a good sport, and we did a few rides until we got the hang of it. After that we got sidetracked by new solo bike acquisitions and kinda forgot about the tandem.
The biggest challenge, I found, is handling the size and weight of the thing. No way I can carry this thing up or down the stairs, and even getting it on the work stand is a wrestling match I just barely win.
When I picked it up at the seller's it went in the back of my Jeep WJ. Had to remove at least one wheel, maybe two. Don't recall.
Braking is mediocre at best, even in our flat country. We got pretty good at yelling at other people. "Coming through!"
I recently found a cheap wheel which just happened to have an Arai drum brake attached to it, which should calm things down a bit. Still have to mount it.
Riding the thing is fun, though, once you get out on the open road and out of the busy urban traffic. Getting up to speed and maintaining that speed is much easier than I expected.
And it does have what the Germans call Überholprestige. People tend to get out of the way rather quickly when they see what's coming at them, which is nice.
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