Tamdems for adults and children

adamedwardsteather
adamedwardsteather Posts: 19
edited February 2012 in Family & kids cycling forum
Having just bought a Circe Helios with child stoker seat, I wondered what other people have.

So far we like ours very much even if it sometimes feels like we need a Long Vehicle sign.

Adam

Comments

  • baudman
    baudman Posts: 757
    A BikeFriday tandem recently came up on Gumtree in Australia. It would've pricked up my ears except

    a) it's 4,000km away, in Perth
    b) I have no $.

    Would've been great, however, as the telescoping seat meant that the current 5yo could use it for many years to come, and her 2yo sister eventually following.
    Commute - MASI Souville3 | Road/CX - MASI Speciale CX | Family - 80s ugly | Utility - Cargobike
  • t4tomo
    t4tomo Posts: 2,643
    We have a viking saratoga, which whilst not really a childback does go down low enough at the back for our kids to use from about age 8/9. If we are cycling anywhere busy through town then much easier if they are on teh back of that than on solo bikes
    Bianchi Infinito CV
    Bianchi Via Nirone 7 Ultegra
    Brompton S Type
    Carrera Vengeance Ultimate Ltd
    Gary Fisher Aquila '98
    Front half of a Viking Saratoga Tandem
  • Todd Sweeney
    Todd Sweeney Posts: 117
    adamedwardsteather wrote:
    Having just bought a Circe Helios with child stoker seat, I wondered what other people have.

    So far we like ours very much even if it sometimes feels like we need a Long Vehicle sign.

    Adam

    Hi Adam - how do you find the Circe Helios?

    It looks great to me and i am very tempted to get one myself. The fact that it is modular is fantastic.

    Did you get the cheapest model?
  • juggling mum
    juggling mum Posts: 24
    We're a 4 tandem household

    Tandem one was purchased for our use in about 1992 - when we upgraded it didn't seem worth selling for return available and in 2005 when my daughter was 4 we put on kiddicranks which we had picked up at York Rally - when she moved off it son moved on although he has now outgrown it and it is due to be disposed of.

    Tandem 2 is a Cannondale MTB M/S bought in 96 - we used this extensively including touring aboard and when the time came my daughter went on the back on a childseat. When she was about 8 seat was lowered to minimum and 140 cranks put on (she took great pleasure in stealing my tandem)

    Tandem 3 is a Swallow tandem we picked up last year, after much searching, from the CTC forum for myself and my son. I am 5'1" and so finding a suitable s/h tandem took some time. My son is now 6 and we took it to France in the summer and did a lot of mileage. Reason for purchase was to keep up with then 9 yo daughter as with trailer bike I was too slow. With swapping of seatpost and stem my husband uses it as well. It came with S & J couples which are great for fitting it in campervan.

    Tandem 4 is for us (so not strictly in this thread) - Trek frame purchased off ebay last spring - but I am told daughter will graduate to it when son fits on Cannondale
  • adamedwardsteather
    adamedwardsteather Posts: 19
    Apologies to Tod for not replying sooner!

    So far very pleased with the Circe (although the recent snow has meant little use so far this year.) I really love the compatability with all my Brompton bags.

    We didn't get the cheapest, as we are hoping to do a bit of modest touring on it, so wanted a higher spec. The modularity is good as it means you can change things as the kids grow.

    The biggest plus is being able to do much longer rides than either child would manage if on their own bikes, so also fun for me getting further afield.

    Cheers

    Adam

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