"Richard Corfield" wrote in message
ale.dyndns.org...

It takes a little getting used to. The steering is quite sensitive and
you get pull if you brake on one side only. Once used to the steering
its no problem at all, just natural, and the tandem has a nice turning
circle for something that long. You can also learn to use the brake steer
a little, though that may be more psychological than real.

Interesting - I didn't find getting used to ours a problem, noticing no
problems with either steering sensitivity or brake pulling. Has he improved
the handlebar mountings? Ours suffered from swivelling if you yanked the
bars too hard while playing around.

The best thing about ours was that it was great fun - looning downhill with
corners was excellent. Lifting a front wheel was a good way to scare a
passenger!

The S+S is good - we got ours mostly in rucksacks with the seats loose. (I
think we had one of the first S+S ones, if not the first).

I don't think we ever lost the front chain, but it was quite tight. I wonder
if this was a factor in the way the drive train felt like pedalling through
treacle.

But eventually it had to go. All the fun in the world didn't help it go up
hills - weight and an inefficient drive train counted against it, and I
found visibility an issue when taking it round somerset lanes (that is, my
visibility - I didn't have any worries about people seeing us). The size was
jolly inconvenient sometimes too. We decided to stick with our upright
tandem (now plural).

(I'd still consider a solo one though - lots of the disadvantages wouldn't
apply).

cheers,
clive