So what was wrong with our steel touring tandem we had purchased first and fallen in love with, fallen in love on, and had seen us safely through so many adventures. Were we being unfaithful to all it had done for us already? Had it let us down or upset us? No, never. It’s place is forever in our hearts and it rides as beautifully and reliably as when it was built in the 1990s. Its metallic blue paint still sparkles and shines and every outing brings waves from strangers and conversations when parked outside cafes. She can do no wrong. However, once enough chain oil has seeped into your skin, bikes are in your blood and you soon aspire for the best one you can get. They are objects of desire. So as soon as I saw the beautiful carbon tandems made by Calfe Designs, Filament, Santana, etc, I wanted one. They were so different to traditional steel tandems. They were cool. We could be cool on a tandem like that!
Photo: Our steel tandem weighing 62lb. A perfect touring tandem but we wanted a lighter tandem for day rides and holidays.
Putting vanity and aspiration to one side, a carbon frame tandem had some practical attractions too. Our steel tandem weighed 62lb. This was no problem riding, its triple chainring had got us up every hill climb even loaded with pannier bags, but lifting it onto a roof rack to travel was near impossible. Lifting it into the back of our small van with the wheels off wasn’t much easier. The mechanical arrangements of all the components for the 3×9 drivetrain and braking systems all added complexity and weight too.
Photo: A modern full carbon tandem frame and forks. This tandem weighs 28lb.
A light carbon frame with modern simple components such as a Rohloff gear hub, 203mm disc brakes, wireless derailleur, carbon components, etc, would be much lighter to handle, to carry and travel abroad with, and have simpler mechanics to manage and maintain.
So drawing inspiration from modern solo bikes and reflecting on how a tandem could be improved on from our own experiences we set an aim to build a tandem with the following features:
- Carbon frame and forks
- Integrated seat masts
- 203mm disc brakes
- Internal cable routing
- 2 eccentric bottom brackets to allow for Rolhoff gear hub
- 1×11 drive train and wireless derailleur
Tavelo Tandems 