Rivendell tandem builds

[Jim S.]

Hi all, 

I was wondering if any prospective Rivendell tandem owners would be willing to share what they were thinking about for their builds. 

[Bill Lindsay]

I'm thinking about it as a Clementine/Clem Smith for two.  It'll have Bosco bars, at least initially.  It will have Silver cranks.  It will have Rich-built wheels with a dyno front hub and a disc-capable rear.  It'll have V-brakes, probably some vintage parallelogram style Shimano XT ones that I have on hand.  I'll use thumbshifters of some kind and probably run a 12-36 9sp cassette.  I'm sure Riv will have a tire that they want us to consider and I'll run that.  I won't run fenders because it'll be a fairweather bike.  I haven't decided what to do in the rack department, but I already have a Nitto Big front with a Wald basket that came off my Appaloosa, that I might run.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Julian Westerhout]

Jim, 

Like Bill, I will likely build ours up as a Clem-istic tandem. Velocity/Rich wheelset with generator hub. Silver cranks. V-brakes (I'd actually prefer cantilevers, but the way the rear seat cluster is built looks like it will preclude that without a lot of bodging). Suntour ratchet thumbshifter, low gears. It will have fenders -- we'll use it both as a town bike and for riding gravel trails in WI and MO (and possibly elsewhere). We'll have a front rack -- either a Gamoh or a Nitto/Wald combo for a shopsack. 

I'm expecting that soon Riv will reveal some possible build package options. 

Julian Westerhout

Bloomington, Il 

[René Sterental]

I've ordered a set of custom wheels from Rich, White Industries 40 spokes F/R in silver and the tandem Silver crankset RBW offered a while back. Have a set of Mini-Motos that I had ordered to test but never installed. The rest is TBD. No fenders so I can put it on a roof rack as it will be for fair weather riding assuming I can slowly get my wife to enjoy it. 

No idea yet about shifters or handlebars, but it'll be for upright riding. Have several I'll test to see what I like best. 

No idea about tires yet either. Haven't done any research yet. 

I do have a B67 and B67S Select saddles, so let's hope my wife likes hers. Otherwise, they won't match! ;-)

Decided in the orange frame as I don't have any bike that color. Hope it's bright and shinny, as the first test wasn't approved. 

Now have to figure how to store it... and if another bike will leave. 

René 

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[Jim S.]

I'm wondering if this might be the bicycle to try out Jones h-bar? Swept back - very wide grip. Could be ideal.

On Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 4:13:18 PM UTC-6, Jim S. wrote:

[lconley]

Orange small frame, silver cranks w/ Phil Wood BBs, MKS sneaker pedals, Rich built wheels,- 40 spoke w/ Phil Wood rear, SON front dynohub, Paul skewers (yes you can get a 145), Paul brakes - cantilever front, touring cantilever rear, Klamper disc, Sun XCD rear derailleur (only polished silver rear that I know), IRD Alpina front derailleur, 12-34 9 spd cassette, Wipperman SS 9 spd chains, VO Nitto/Fairweather Bullmoose front handlebars. All ordered, some delivered.
Waiting to see what tires Rivendell offers - I will go fat as possible. Not sure on shifters and brake levers yet but they will be silver in color. Not sure on fenders till I see the tire choices - I have very wide SS Berthouds over the 50 mm Big Bens on my Bombadil, but I don't think they would cover 60s.
Not a Clem style build.

[Tony DeFilippo]

Can't wait to see the builds. Every time I read about the HHH I have to remind myself that my Burley tandem is more than sufficient for the limited tandem riding my wife and I do... But it's still tempting especially the promise of fat tires...

I'm going to swap out the current mustache bars for a Jones Loop this season as well as I'm wanting to mount the front kid seat and make it a 'triple'.

Tony

[Daniel Jackson]

I really can't wait for our large sage tandem with Paul components levers and brakes (motolites and a klamper), compass tires, son lighting, choco bars, Honjo fenders, and duel sprung brooks saddles.

Still thinking about gearing but most likely friction 2 x 10

Gonna be rad this summer on some VT dirt and a little third 3 year old rider towed behind.

[Paul Burns]

How did they all work out? How do you like the tandems? Things you would change in your build? Things you love? PICS?

[Adam Leibow]

As a current Hubbuhubbuh owner, one piece of advice I can share is that friction shifting was a PITA. My theory is the amount of distance the cable travels combined with how much more a tandem frame flexes (longer tubing distances + the weight of two people) equals mucho ghost shifting and chain-jump weirdness. I could be wrong. But my problems went away when I flipped the switch on my Ultegra shifters (mated to Paul thumbies) to "index" mode. I'd steer clear of friction shifting on the tandem but I am interested to hear others' experiences

On Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 2:13:18 PM UTC-8, Jim S. wrote:

[Shoji Takahashi]

Hi Adam,

I have small HHH, and friction shift  (Shimano 9-speed bar-end shifter, Deore derailer, IIRC). I haven't had any problems with rear shifting. Stoker is usually one of my kids (<65 lbs), so there's not much frame flex.

My front shifter (Silver triple) occasionally is problematic for shifting to granny. (It might be a limit screw setting, but I'm not so keen on dropping the chain.)

Good luck!

shoji

Arlington MA

[M G]

Atlas rims, velocity rear tandem hub, son dyno front.   

Had Paul motolights, switched to XT; the Paul’s springs and small parts kept rusting (sorry), the XTs work just fine

Drag brake set up with a bar end attached to a Paul thumbie mount

Wore out the silver chainrings: changed to 26 / 36 / 54 (copilot is a pusher not a spinner).  It has been GREAT to use the wahoo computer to see where she is most comfortable cadence-wise, and then keep within that range.

We’ve had 5 tandems in 20 years, and this is by far the most comfortable (for her), fastest, and most used. We’ve hauled 50 - 70lbs of stuff on it, and with the exception of uphill (and there’s a lot of uphill) it’s super fast.

9 speed micro shift trigger shifter w XT long cage (cassette is 11 - 40)

front is friction shift, yes the 36 - 54 is a hard transition.  We’re in the 54 x 18 pretty often, at 75 rpm. 

tires - horizon WTB - i like on this more than Compass which we’ve also tried, these feel less squirmy.  We’re 340 lbs together (190 / 150)

Bars: I prefer bars under my saddle height; have tried a lot of different bars (and am probably going to switch to drops and a short stem, since such a long top tube). Swept back bars i like the most after using with 

- albatross

- moustache

- VO milano bar (love this bar, but not wide enough, not enough room for shifters and drag brake levers)

Sycip singles bar is a fantastic bar, except that i wanted to have a further forward position - these VO ‘crazy’ bars are the same dimensions as the Sycip bar with the addition of the forward grips.  We’ve used trekking bars on tandems before, and these are pretty similar, position wise, except the most perfect back sweep.

- though i usually like a b-17, it’s not proving out on this for me, and i most likely will switch to WTB bolt

- stoker has a sprung brooks

- nitto rear rack

- son edelux

- toplight rack light

- planet bike fenders, which were great for 2 New England winters so far

cleaning the chain (ie wiping down) after each ride, esp in winters, became critical - dirt / salt / snow / water - usually on our singles i had been a bit more relaxed, but after wearing out chains and cassettes in 500 miles, i realized that we put so much more stress on the drivetrain, i had to up my game (and i did).

And can i say again: that we LOVE this tandem.  And also, on our very lax group rides, as long as there’s not too much climbing, we have to slow down (and for small climbs, my stoker was determined to keep up the pace, so we’ve done ok on those)

We did last years very wet D2R2, a shorter route because it was pouring, and since we’re used to riding in mud / on dirt / we were quite surprised at our clip there too.

So…generic equipment (except the SON hub) / bars for best fit = most important / and keep the grit down to a dull roar on the drivetrain

[Paul Burns]

Thanks, MG—beautiful bike and very helpful description. Anyone else have an update/suggestions/advice/pics? I’d be looking to ride it 80% on tarmac and 20% on dirt roads in the rural hills of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, ideally with some sort of baskets/panniers to get groceries.

Also: have PBH of 85, saddle height 75 and am 5’11” tall. With a small Hubbuhubbuh, how much steerer tube do you think I should leave on to get Bosco bars (from Riv with stem built in) above the saddle??

Thanks,all

[Jonathan K.]

Paul, I'm glad you revived this thread. I'm on the preorder list for a medium orange Hubbuhubbuh. I also ordered the Silver cranks and the Velocity wheels. 

As far as steerer length, why not leave it uncut for now? Just throw some spacers on there and cut it later on once you have the bar position dialed in.

MG, thanks for the detailed write up and picture. Most builds I've seen have some sort of swept back bar. Good to know other bars work well, too. I was leaning toward the new Wavie bar for mine. I recently put a set on my Surly Big Dummy and really like them on there, so I think I might try them on the tandem too. 

I'd like to echo Paul in requesting any build ideas, advice, reviews, pictures, etc. The new batch of frames are supposed to be shipping this month. Anyone else expecting/planning?

Thanks,

Jonathan

[M G]

@Paul Burns....I'm in the Berkshires, near GB / you can take a look in person.

[Paul Burns]

Thanks. Looking forward to it!

—thanks
Paul

> On Jun 5, 2019, at 21:30, M G <mgst...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> @Paul Burns....I'm in the Berkshires, near GB / you can take a look in person.
>

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[Rob Kristoff]

what did you do with the motolites? Interested in selling?

Rob

[M G]

I sent you a PM

[Paul Burns]

M G

Thank you so much for showing me your fine bike. I forgot to ask (and others may be interested as well):

—what is the lever/handlebar mount for your drag brake?
—what kickstand do you use?
—which rear rack?

Thanks again!

[M G]

Lever / handlebar mount = a Paul's with an old bar end; it was temporary when it went on.  "nothing as permanent as a temporary solution"

Kickstand = a single pletcher; i don't love the double kickstand on a tandem or other bike; in my experience, less stable; the single kickstand = a bigger triangulation with the 2 wheels; i lock the rear wheel w the drag brake = very stable for loading

rear rack = a nitto, i bent it around to fit past the disk. R15 model.  I like because there are lower struts for lower back mounting.