I have been watching this forum for a little while but this is my first post - i’m sure you will all be kind [br]
My Wife and I are considering taking 6 months out next may/june and are thinking we would like to cycle tour round Spain / South France / Italy / Greece.
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We don’t currently have a tandem but would look to purchase one soon in order to do some training to check we like cycle touring before committing to such a long trip. We are thinking of getting a tandem in the next month or so to enable us to do some good day rides and weekend trips before trying a 2 week cycle tour in October of this year.
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I have some experience of tandeming as my parents have had a tandem for a number of years but we have very limited experience riding as a couple. We were bought and thoroughly enjoyed a tandem experience facilitated by JD’s which inspired thoughts of this proposed trip.
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I have a number of questions to ask the community here..any advice would be appreciated....!
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1. Are we totally mad? Is it unwise to think that we can purchase a tandem that will meet our needs and get enough miles under our belts (or in our legs) before may next year?
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2. Does anyone have any experience of riding in Spain in October? I would like to try and plan the 2 week holiday preperation tour asap. Route ideas and options for transport to Spain would be appreciated. [br] [br]
3. We are pretty much exactly the same height (5ft11) with the captain carrying a couple more stones in weight than the stoker and a combined weight somewhere around 22 stone but we aim to loose some of it!!! Ideas for make/model of tandem would be useful I like the look of the Landescape as it is possible to have both an on road / off road setup ???
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4. Has anybody wild camped in Spain? If so what was your experience??
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5. Has anybody got experience of tandem touring with a trailer rather than just panniers. I think we will struggle to fit everything in 4 panniers. What are the pros/cons of trailors and which makes and models are best for long distance touring.
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6. Anybody local to Hull interested in giving advice or meeting up for rides (once tandem purchased!)
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I realise it’s a long post....but thought this community would be up to the task!!!
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Thanks in advance for your help....
Hi Thepjis, I do like your idea for an adventure like that.
We have just come back from an adventure in France, only one week but brilliant, on
HMT Skylark pulling a trailer, which I purchased from Edinburgh Cycles just over 12 months ago.
We have used it a couple of times, and the only modifications are a need for a mud guard flap, and two
axle keeper plates to stop the wheel being dragged out of the frame on hitting large bumps.
The plates are from a cheepy mountain bike front axle, you might need to enlarge the holes on the trailer frame slightly, but works very well.
The good thing about this trailer are, a lower centre of gravity making it more stable, it follows you everywhere,
and you can still use panniers if you want too.
It can be a slower than normal ride up hill but the decending is Wicked
If you read the artical Coast to Coast Devon Style you will read about our first ride with the trailer.
Hi PJ1, as we live in Plymouth we take the Plymouth to Roscoff ferry,
with no problems. You will be pleased to know that a tandem counts as One bike, (they don’t count the trailer)YIPPEE
and Stokes is a foot passenger thus saving you £10.
If you have read some of the other posts about getting to grips with tandem rideing
then you are about to have some increadable FUN!
As long as you get the tandem that you are happy with I am pretty sure you will get the miles in
because you are going to use it a lot and the fun will make you want to ride it more often. Even
in this lovely wet summer.
Buy as good a tandem as you can - they ain’t cheap - good wheels and hubs are essential and IMO - (but others disagree) discs are essential. Make sure you are really comfy on it.
We have ridden in the low countries - easy to there from edinburgh using the Rosyth Zebrugge ferry. Depending where you are flying might be a good option.
Dawes and cannodale are the two we looked at - currently running a ‘dale with a lot of upgrades - it is used for real offroad. The orbit (when we looked) could not be got with strong enough wheels.
As for luggage - 4 panniers should be plenty. If you can’t get your kit in 4 panniers you have too much kit. Some tandems have enough space between the pilot and stoke to have a bag ther mounted on the stoker bars and you can also do stuff like strap tent poles to the frame and so on. I have never used a trailer but find manoeuvring the tandem difficult enough anyway let alone adding a trailer.
Just a wee tip that we were given when starting out - if both of you learn to ride in both seats in helps build confidence quickly.
Hi Thepjis, I do like your idea for an adventure like that.
