My partner (Lisa) and I are becoming quite addicted to riding tandems. Later this year we are planning to go tandem cycling in Myanmar and we wanted a folding tandem that would could easily pack away as check in luggage without having the fuss of an oversized bike box…its three flights to our destination and another three back home…we will have to check in our baggage for two of the three flights! No checking in luggage to the destination carousel on this trip!
I had been looking for a Bike Friday tandem on eBay and Gumtree for literally months without even a sniff of a lead – It all fell into place for us however when I posted on BNA inquiring about a the merits of a tandem with a Rohloff hub gear (there was one going on eBay at the time). In the thread Mike Ayling told me about the Australian Bike Friday Club - Here is the post… viewtopic.php?f=77&t=88701" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Within hours (quite literally) of contacting Margaret Day, the convener the Australian Bike Friday Club, she was on the case - and within days three options for purchasing a tandem were being actively explored for us…resulting ultimately in our recent acquisition a beautiful pre loved Bike Friday Family Tandem! The support that we received from Margaret and the club was remarkable! Thank you Vui Chong in Coffs Harbour – the owner of the bike for such a seamless purchase – He arranged shipping to Melbourne and the bike arrived beautifully packed last week…
The Bike Friday Australia Club has an annual gathering of Bike Friday owners from across Australian (and beyond). We are not able to attend this years gathering in April but are definitely planning on attending next years event in NSW…Here is a link to their website… https://www.bikefriday.com/community/cl ... y_club_inc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
We took the bike for our maiden ride on the weekend and it is fantastic! Not a long ride (32k's) but long enough to know that it’s a ripper of a bike. We made a few adjustments and slight changes to the bikes setup...we put on a set of Schwable Marathon 20 x 1.5 tyres, adjusted the rear stoker bars through the addition of an adjustable tandem stoker stem and changed the chain over for a slightly longer chain - the derailleur was stretched and quite a forward angle when on the 32 rear (which we will be using a lot in Myanmar later in the year
The Sram Dual Drive setup, a combination of an 8-speed cassette and a 3-speed hub gear is great. I might change the grip shifter over eventually to trigger shifters as my commuter bike has Nexus hub it twists in the opposite direction to change gears...My touring bike has a Rohloff gear hub and I was so used to the Nexus setup that I reversed it to change the same way - My muscle memory is now hard wired that a twist forward is shifting into an easier gear! I made lots of boo boos when shifting on the maiden ride! Not a biggie but trigger shifters would help...
Putting together the bike was fun! It’ a wonderful bit of engineering and it rides really well – We thought it would be a little unstable and twitchy and would possibly flex a lot – Not so…the feel of the bike does take a little getting used to but after a little while it felt like we were riding a full sized bike…
Bring on Mynamar!!
First Ride on a Bike Friday Traveler Tandem
- VeloGiro
- Posts: 222
- Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:19 pm
- Location: Ashwood, Vic
- rifraf
- Posts: 3843
- Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:55 pm
- Location: Two Rocks, WA
Re: First Ride on a Bike Friday Traveler Tandem
Postby rifraf » Tue Mar 01, 2016 3:54 pm
Sounds great.
I loved my Dual Drive on my previous bike (Moulton APB) and they seem to really suit small wheels.
They are the evolution of the Sachs 3x7 which was also a decent unit.
The Dual Drives have been popular with recumbents and I believe Greenspeed used to be the Australian company to go to to look for parts/advice.
Course that was a couple of years ago now when I had mine and may no longer be relevant.
I'd enjoy seeing some pics of the new bike if you've the inclination and would definitely love to see some pics of Myanmar.
I loved my Dual Drive on my previous bike (Moulton APB) and they seem to really suit small wheels.
They are the evolution of the Sachs 3x7 which was also a decent unit.
The Dual Drives have been popular with recumbents and I believe Greenspeed used to be the Australian company to go to to look for parts/advice.
Course that was a couple of years ago now when I had mine and may no longer be relevant.
I'd enjoy seeing some pics of the new bike if you've the inclination and would definitely love to see some pics of Myanmar.
Surly Ogre, Extrawheel trailer.
- VeloGiro
- Posts: 222
- Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:19 pm
- Location: Ashwood, Vic
Re: First Ride on a Bike Friday Traveler Tandem
Postby VeloGiro » Wed Mar 02, 2016 8:39 pm
Hi Rifraf - Here are a couple of images of the bike...
[
[
- rifraf
- Posts: 3843
- Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:55 pm
- Location: Two Rocks, WA
Re: First Ride on a Bike Friday Traveler Tandem
Postby rifraf » Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:51 pm
Very nice!
I was trying to kick start the grey matter and recall where else you can look for parts (Dualdrive).
I remember buying from eBay and Amazon.
Not that anything gave issue for my Dualdrive but I was enamoured with trigger shifters and wanted spare click box.
I didn't end up using the trigger shifters (now lost) but instead stuck with my bikes original twin grip shifters which were still working great two decades later.
The prices tended to fluctuate for some reason so don't rush into the first lot you see. It wasn't currency fluctuations either so I could make little sense of it.
I actually hung on to my spare Dualdrive unit in case my Rohloff ever gave issue.
It will likely grace a Moulton TSR frame I've been thinking about assuming I don't once again splash out and buy another Rohloff.
The only negative (for me) with the Dualdrive was that click box which made it impossible to use some trailers.
I lost some money on my Bob at the time and was less than pleased.
The Sachs 3x7 it replaced didn't have the click box so could still utilise trailer Nutz.
Don't know why I'm wondering down this path as it seems to me Bike Friday themselves with likely have any parts you need.
The gear adjustment was very easy once you knew what you were doing.
From memory it was lining up the green indicator line in between the two white lines on the click box. That was second gear.
Seemed to create a lack for joy for some people but I never had any problem at all getting the gears set up right.
I do recommend you don't change under load no matter what others or the manual say.
Likely easier said than done trying to synchronise this with a stoker.
I believe IP mentioned his method for doing it somewhere though that may have been his Tandem Rohloff method.
I was trying to kick start the grey matter and recall where else you can look for parts (Dualdrive).
I remember buying from eBay and Amazon.
Not that anything gave issue for my Dualdrive but I was enamoured with trigger shifters and wanted spare click box.
I didn't end up using the trigger shifters (now lost) but instead stuck with my bikes original twin grip shifters which were still working great two decades later.
The prices tended to fluctuate for some reason so don't rush into the first lot you see. It wasn't currency fluctuations either so I could make little sense of it.
I actually hung on to my spare Dualdrive unit in case my Rohloff ever gave issue.
It will likely grace a Moulton TSR frame I've been thinking about assuming I don't once again splash out and buy another Rohloff.
The only negative (for me) with the Dualdrive was that click box which made it impossible to use some trailers.
I lost some money on my Bob at the time and was less than pleased.
The Sachs 3x7 it replaced didn't have the click box so could still utilise trailer Nutz.
Don't know why I'm wondering down this path as it seems to me Bike Friday themselves with likely have any parts you need.
The gear adjustment was very easy once you knew what you were doing.
From memory it was lining up the green indicator line in between the two white lines on the click box. That was second gear.
Seemed to create a lack for joy for some people but I never had any problem at all getting the gears set up right.
I do recommend you don't change under load no matter what others or the manual say.
Likely easier said than done trying to synchronise this with a stoker.
I believe IP mentioned his method for doing it somewhere though that may have been his Tandem Rohloff method.
Surly Ogre, Extrawheel trailer.
- VeloGiro
- Posts: 222
- Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:19 pm
- Location: Ashwood, Vic
Re: First Ride on a Bike Friday Traveler Tandem
Postby VeloGiro » Thu Mar 03, 2016 7:16 am
Thanks for the info Rifraff...no problem so far syncing the gears - The indicator line between the two bars is indeed the sweet spot in adjusting the hub...I am finding it takes me quite a few goes to get the clickbox to anchor - not sure if i am doing anything wrong - the instructions are pretty straight forward - i just don't seem to get a purchase on the gear pin thingy first (second or third) time...aside from that i like the hub.
Heading off on the long weekend on a mini tour in south gippsland...will put the bike through its paces on a longer ride with mixed terrain and surface - looking forward to it a lot!
Cheers
Heading off on the long weekend on a mini tour in south gippsland...will put the bike through its paces on a longer ride with mixed terrain and surface - looking forward to it a lot!
Cheers
-
- Posts: 1020
- Joined: Sun Nov 10, 2013 8:37 am
Re: First Ride on a Bike Friday Traveler Tandem
Postby zebee » Sun Mar 20, 2016 6:57 am
Greenspeed is still actively using DualDrive on their trikes. Given how mindbogglingly helpful they are and how they have so many years experience on small wheel bikes I think they'd definitely be the company of choice for parts and advice.
- VeloGiro
- Posts: 222
- Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:19 pm
- Location: Ashwood, Vic
Re: First Ride on a Bike Friday Traveler Tandem
Postby VeloGiro » Mon Mar 21, 2016 9:06 am
Thanks Zebee and Rifraf - The info on the Sram Dual Drive is greatly appreciatedzebee wrote:Greenspeed is still actively using DualDrive on their trikes. Given how mindbogglingly helpful they are and how they have so many years experience on small wheel bikes I think they'd definitely be the company of choice for parts and advice.
Took the bike on a 100 k ride on the weekend - Its a ripper
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