I’ve been trying to think how to put this without sounding totally negative about tandems (which I’m certainly not!).
So, here goes.
I’m not sure if it’s our riding style, our riding terrain, our weight! or what, but we’re getting to the stage where we’re a tad apprehensive when we go out as to whether we’ll make the trip. I’m finding myself waiting for the next ‘crunch’ when we’re hill climbing as some other part fails.
Some background. We live in the Lake District. My riding buddy is going blind and so around 18 months ago bought a Santana tandem.
We’ve done lots of touring together in the past and want to carry on with that so a tandem was the obvious (only) choice.
We ride every weekend (sometimes more) and relish the challenge of a hill or two so we’re regularly riding steep hills like Wrynose, Hardknott, Wall End and the like. We like doing the odd ‘sportif’ ride like the Fred Whitton and Cumberland Challenge. The problem is, we’re going through tandem components like there’s no tomorrow. Having bust a couple of freehubs on Edco hubs, we were recommended to go to the unbreakable Hadley(sp?) hub. That one lasted about 2 months.
JD Cycles have kindly loaned us a tandem while it gets sorted again, but I’m getting more than a tad concerned now.
If we were using crap / cheap components I could understand it, but we’re not.
Not sure I want to know the answer to this, but are we asking too much of the equipment?
We both weigh the wrong side of 13 stone, so are no lightweights. A couple of stone off each of us wouldn’t go amiss, but are we being unreasonable to think that we could get 12 months trouble free tandeming?
Can anyone offer any words of comfort or advice? (Moving to Norfolk isn’t an option
Oh - and if you need a ‘destruction test’ doing on anything, we’re your men!
I am afraid I can’t offer you an answer but perhaps a different perspective on it.
I take it from your post that it is not just hubs you are going through.If that is the case then I think you are probably correct and it is something in your riding style that is stressing the components if they are failing one after the other and different components at that.
As little as I know about tandeming I don’t think that two 13st. chaps is over the top for a decent tandem surely.
Could the frame be out of alignment/cracked which is putting stress on things,especially on hilly terrain ?
Perhaps if you did lowland flat rides for a few months and see if that leads to component breakage as going over Hardknott and Wrynose Pass is no little undertaking ( you have my respect ),at least if there were no problems you will know where the trouble may lie.
I am sure that JD’s wiil be able to offer you some advice and help for your dilemma.
John and I have just spent 10 days tandeming in the Lake District, and the terrain certainly has to be one of the most testing areas in the country.
From time to time we have customers who break components without any apparent cause, and it remains a mystery as to why. The problem with the Hadley seems to have been a faulty spring, so I think we have a conclusion on that one. Fingers crossed.
All we can conclude is that its a combination of bad luck, the incredibly hard terrain and that you are both really fit.
Hi Ruth
Hope you had a good time in the Lakes. You should have given us the nod, we could have maybe met up for a ride.
Thanks for the ‘encouragement’. I particularly enjoyed the last bit about ‘being fit’ ) Don’t ever delete that post will you
Strange as it may sound, I really do hope it was a faulty hub. Due to ‘building work’ at home, I’ve only been out a couple of times on the tandem you kindly loaned Konrad, but I must say I’m quite impressed with it. It’s certainly lighter! I think Konrad may be contacting you about it. I’m not sold on the straight bars, but it means his wife can ride it too, so I can live with that.
I guess you’re right though. We probably always will have problems from time to time due to the hills being so steep, and we do do a fair few miles on it over the course of a year.
I have discussed hubs extensivley with others on other tandem sites.
Rohloffs are the only ones folk don’t break - or the vary rare and expensive chris king heavy duty tandem special.
We run a hope big un - we ripped the freehub apart within a year - repaired by Hope FOC and they advised cleaning it more often - every couple of months.
We do utterly hammer the tandem riding offroad. You should be able to spec parts that rarely break tho.
Good luck!
