The Mountain Tandem

A couple years ago I was at a Tsali race weekend trying to convince Alison that I was marriage material, anyhow they had a tandem division at the race, and I just thought that was the coolest thing ever. Then we came to KS and met the Arnolds, who have done the Leadville 100 multiple times on their tandem. This got me to thinking.
What if we got a tandem Mtn bike?
Al gave me the nod, and over the period of a few months I began buying a frame, then the components.
The really odd stuff like the fork and the Stoker stoker stem I had to pick up from random retailers, but most of the other parts came from either Big Poppi's or I had loafing in my parts bin.


I asked Al if she would be my Rear Admiral, and her responce was, "only if there is some cush for my tush"


Drive train

The alternative to buying a $400 tandem hub, a 600 level shimano hub with a threaded thru axle so I could space it out to 145mm. Big P's own, Angry Dutchman Rico Van Buskirk), custom cut the spokes for me on their new Phil Wood Spoke machine. Tyler Whetstone lace the rear wheel for me. This is the 2nd wheel that T-Daddy has laced for me, and I must say he does a great job.

I never imagined how stiff and diesel a fork could be. Yes, that is a 2.6 Ardent

I still need to fine tune a few things, like synching the cranks, re-doing to brake housing, and installing the stoker stem. However I did ride it to work today and it shifted perfectly (not bad for someone that only rides a SS!)
I hope to race it at cruise the blues this year under the BGR/Big Poppi flag, assuming Doug will give me permission.