Hi Simon

Wow, awesome photos on your website! The concept of tandem surfing
had never entered my consciousness! (Ok, so I don't surf to start
with! And people think tandem cyclists are crazy!) So you're looking
for a little less adrenalin then?! (Well apart from the exhilarating
speed you can build up on a tandem, downhill...) You will certainly
have the teamwork and trust thing down pat before you start anyway.

We can't believe the prices on those KHS tandems! Sadly, from recent
experience (when I let someone locally know about that ad) not all
the bike shops listed as KHS dealers on that ad are particularly
helpful, or have much knowledge or interest in tandems. What this
particular person did was get her friendly local bike shop to see if
they could get one from the distributors anyway, and last I heard it
was possible, and happening (though I haven't heard ultimately
whether it arrived or not.)

We bought our first tandems for $500 (each) second hand on eBay! and
we've upgraded since (now own three - a triple and an mtb tandem that
we ride with the kids, and a Santana road tandem which we bought from
the US.)

Our advice to anyone interested in tandems is to get whatever you can
afford/find at the time. (Right frame size for your heights is the
main thing to consider.) To really get the feel of a riding a
tandem, you need to put a fair bit of time into riding one -
something you're not going to get riding around the block IF a bike
shop happened to have one anyway. If you were in the US, you'd get
really personal sales service and the chance to try for days before
you buy, but tandems just aren't that big over here...

But tandems hold their price very well with resale, so whatever you
buy will be a worthwhile investment. If you don't like it, or want to
upgrade, you'll pretty much get your money back.

So our advice would be: Get one, ride it.. if you enjoy it, get
online and read up on them, go on various rides (Sydney Spring
Cycle/Sydney to Gong/the Big Rides) and meet other tandem riders, who
are all usually very keen to compare notes and experiences... and
then upgrade (if you want) to the sort of tandem that will suit you.
(eg. Will you want a road tandem, or does madcap downhill mtb tandem
riding rock your boat?) There are so many different sorts, and people
have their favourites as well. Some swear by their Bike Fridays (and
with their pedals offset) - we love our (almost) vintage Santana
because of the workmanship and quality. (And we are very definitely
of the 'pedals in synch' school. (We've recently upgraded our
Santana to 9 speed, and with new wheels (because it needed new hubs)
we are getting an improvement of about 2 kph average speed!)

I had a blog going about our tandem riding
(http://schmidtfiles.blogspot.com), but it's been lying fallow for
over a year - too busy riding!) There are a couple of links down the
sidebar there that might be helpful. Also feel free to email Marc:
mschmidt(at)exemail(dot)com(dot)au if you want to talk techo. He'll
have other suggested links, probably as well.

Good luck!

Tracey (of traceandmarc)










--- In sydneytandems@yahoogroups.com, "Simon Phin \(Beyond The
Break\)" <simon@...> wrote:
>
> Hi
>
>
>
> I have enrolled myself on this email trying to get some information
about
> Tandem Cycling.
>
>
>
> In short my partner and I are tandem surfers (
www.tandemaustralia.com ) and
> are keen to get into tandem cycling.
>
>
>
> We saw an ad for KHS tandem bikes in Australian Cyclist but have
been unable
> to find any anywhere to have a look. I have spoken to William at
Beach Road
> Cycles in Melbourne, who was very helpful but was hoping to find
something a
> little closer to home here in Sydney. We live at Allambie on the
Northern
> Beaches.
>
>
>
> Any direction or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Simon Phin
>
> Home 9939 1743 / Mobile 0400 100 814
>
>
>
> From: sydneytandems@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:sydneytandems@yahoogroups.com]
> On Behalf Of Ken
> Sent: Monday, 25 August 2008 10:52 AM
> To: sydneytandems@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: {Disarmed} [sydneytandems] Stuff.
>
>
>
> I hurt my ribs at Rugby practice two weeks ago and thought it was
> getting better and jumped on my bike on Saturday and only did a
couple
> of k's and could hardly function after that. Almost headed off to
the
> hospital it was that bad. Anyhow the doc said it could be broken
and I
> have to do for an xray, but they will not do anything if it is
broken?
> so why the xray. So I am off the bike for a month at least. How
goes
> the rest of you? Rodger are you 100% now. Chris is Tassi still
> looking like a goer? Rugby will be over after next week and as soon
as
> that is done and dusted, the rib gets better I am going to start
> hitting more of the bike north rides. Cheers, Ken
>