Compared to a $600 Bike Friday tandem, my suggestion will be in the stratospheric realm. For my young son and me, we invested in a Co-Motion tandem, the Torpedo model where the stoker seat can be raised from 4 foot something rider up to 6 feet. We also got S&S couplers so we can fit into two suitcases for travel. It is super fantastic, and rides really as smooth as butter - Riv-like if you would.
The thing about a tandem with couplers is that only one wheel needs to fit in each suitcase, making the loading process a heckuva lot easier than loading a single, where the two wheel stuff gets pretty tight. I would say that the breakdown and assembly are about the same hour as with the Bike Friday. Where it is not as good is being able to stuff the tandem into the trunk of a car, so if you have a sedan, the Bike Friday would work. But if like most 'Mericans you have an SUV or a station wagon like me, just detach the front section and the bike fits nicely. BTW: it breaks into 3 section. Price is an issue, of course, with a new bike being in the 5 grand range. I am told (by the dealer!?) that coupled tandems do hold their value, to which I can attest only to their rarity. I just couldn't find another like this in the used market. Aside from the fact that my stoker son is 9, and getting him to pedal steadily is a chore, the bike is a pleasure. Let's see how many more years I get from it until he is ready to ride 50 mile days on his own bike. Steve Seelig On Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 1:38:07 PM UTC-4, Abcyclehank wrote: > > Kelly, > Long time no talk. Feel free to call if you want more details. > I had a 66cm Bike Friday briefly and was surprised at the ride for riders > our size. I second that the tire size (width) makes a difference when > trying to calm the steering a bit. Mine accelerated brilliantly and would > have been a good fit for your intended purpose. > Although I adapted well to the ride and don’t see that being an issue for > you. My wife did not like the look of me riding it. Her being a non > cyclist at the time; thought I looked like a “bear on a tricycle” (6’6” > 240lbs) and questioned why I was not riding my “normal” bikes (74cm > Bombadil or 68cm Quickbeam. Not that others opinions would significantly > affect you nor I. Nothing better than tightening up a Tilly for protection > and riding off. > > Now regarding the Bike Friday Tandem I would not pull the trigger without > riding one first although they do hold used value and you could flip/resell > easily. Most who rave about them to my knowledge are not our size and ride > them frequently with children and/or as introduction to Tandems. > I know you have evolved away from Rivendell but you might want to try > their tandem. My wife wants to ride ours weekly and it is 100% better > (more enjoyable) than the Jumbo Cannondales we each owned in the past. > I consider mine custom-like and it is so dialed in we will never part with > it. Grant’s willingness to add a size for us outliers is something I will > be forever grateful for and what makes him and RBW special. > > Sincerely, > Ryan Hankinson > West Michigan > (616)928-4226 -- 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.
