Pimp my tandem...

teamtommy

Guys,

I've just bought an old Dawes Horizon Twin tandem for £150. It is, naturally, a total dog. I'd like to do a little work to it and am hoping for some advice.

It's currently an 18 gear, drop handlebar creature with changers on the down tube. I plan to use it for some pretty/very relaxed touring with wifey on the back. My prioirities are economy and comfort in that order (if I'm going to spend money, I'll spend it on the road bike!). I'd like to convert it to a flat handlebar with changers on the bars and possibly a repaint.

Has anybody tried anything like this, or got any cunning ideas?

Cheers

mroli

as the owner of an old tandem that has eaten my money - i would say - sell it and buy a new one that is set up how you want it!

Seriously though - the Dawes Horizon Tandem is a decent basis - if you want economy and comfort I would say that you are going to get most comfort out of decent tyres. You might want to have a look at the wheels - depending on the age, you may well start to snap spokes and that's a pain. Have a look at the chain - snapping a tandem chain is a pain in the arse.

Esp if you are touring - racks are important too.

Brakes will be a big issue - what do you have? You want to be able to stop...

In relation to changing gears from downtubes to flat bar - that isn't too bad - there are things that give you links where the downtube shifters were - I think SJS sell them. If you are trying to do it cheap, you might want to look at bar end shifters rather than flat bar. I've got normal brake levers and cross bar levers - we were doing some decent miles on our bike and it is nice to have a variety of positions. Which is something you might like to keep the drop bars for. Is it 18 gear - 3 and 6?

You will also need a tandem carrier for the far - we got an avenir one which is cheaper than the pendle - though the pendle is better. It is also pretty hard work to get it up on there - you need some good teamwork.

Basically, it isn't cheap. but t is bloody good fun - we've done London to Bristol camping all the way and round the Cotentin peninsular amongst others (also touring down in Cornwall - you can get the bike on some FGW trains).

Enjoy it - it is good fun, but be preapred to spend less on the road bike¬

teamtommy

Thank you, that's a great (and swift) start! Yes, you're right, it's a triple on the front with six speeds at the rear hub. I'm already looking at replacing the brakes, but wanted to make my mind up on the handlebars first. My local bike shop have advised flat bars, so that should be pretty easy. They've also suggested switching to seven speeds at the back so that I can buy some modern gear levers, but I think that may prove pricey...

Thanks once again!

GarethPJ

Switching to seven sprockets at the rear could be awkward. How much clearance is there between the smallest sprocket and the frame? IIRC a seven speed shimano cassette or block is something like 3.5mm thicker than a six speed. If the clearance is already tight this could bring the chain uncomfortably close to the frame.

The solution, short of a new wheel is to redish the wheel to move the sprocket a little bit away from the frame. It's not a difficult job if you're confident, you won't need new spokes unless you snap one. You will need to replace spacers in order to work it. To keep the smallest sprocket where the current one is you'd need 3.5mm more spacer on the drive side and 3.5mm less on the other. The odds of you having the right sized spacer to move are pretty slim so you'll normally need to get hold of the correct spacers from somewhere. So long as you don't do something silly and wreck the wheel you should be home free. Do it that way and it won't cost much. However if you're not confident and you ask the shop to do it they may charge you a good chunk in labour that could add up to the cost of a new wheel. And it seems you're trying to avoid spending too much.

When it comes to bars have you considered something like a Modolo Yuma Traveller?

teamtommy

Great, thanks! I'll check the clearance at the back and see how we get on... I'd certainly prefer to avoid labour costs where possible.

Thanks also for the tip on the bars, I had started looking at mountain bike bars, but I'll check out the Travellers!

teamtommy

Right. I've decided to go with drop bars at the front and stick with my changers on the down tube, to keep things simple. The frame is in the paintshop now and I hope to have it back within a few days and on the road in a couple of weeks...

As mroli warned above, I need to think about my brakes. Initially I'm going to have to put the old cantilevers back on with my simple drop bar brake levers. What I'd like to do is to put vee-brakes on it eventually, does anybody know if you can get drop bar brake levers to work with vee-brakes?

All help gratefully recieved!

teamtommy

Solved! Dia Compe do road vee-brake levers...