Burley Tandem Question Please

My wife and I are recreational road riders (15-16 MPH 30-40 miles typical).
We have been thinking of getting a tandem as we ride 3 or 4 multi-day rides
during the year also. We do not know much about tandems and are on a
limited budget. Today we saw a used Burley Duet. We don't know too much
about except it is supposed to have been made in the mid nineties and ridden
by the proverbial little old lady. It appears in good shape. It has the
shifters on the ends of the drop bars. Is this a plus or minus? Does this
feature tell us anything about the "level" or quality of the bike? They are
asking $875.

Any suggestions you can give would be greatly appreciated... Thanks, Bob

In article
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"Bob Newman" wrote:

My wife and I are recreational road riders (15-16 MPH 30-40 miles typical).
We have been thinking of getting a tandem as we ride 3 or 4 multi-day rides
during the year also. We do not know much about tandems and are on a
limited budget. Today we saw a used Burley Duet. We don't know too much
about except it is supposed to have been made in the mid nineties and ridden
by the proverbial little old lady. It appears in good shape. It has the
shifters on the ends of the drop bars. Is this a plus or minus? Does this
feature tell us anything about the "level" or quality of the bike? They are
asking $875.

Any suggestions you can give would be greatly appreciated... Thanks, Bob

Burley tandems are in general part of the high-end of the tandem market,
well above the MTB-based lady-back tandems that make up the typical
rental-market fodder.

Almost any late-model road-wheel tandem is going to be designed to a
higher spec than the low-end MTB tandems, because the demand at the low
end of the tandem market is for flat bars and fat tires (though there
are many very good MTB tandems, if that's what one wants).

Barcons as you describe are a slightly eccentric feature, but are a
connoisseur thing: you won't see them spec'd by just anyone, only those
who desire them. There are some dull arguments for them pro and con
versus integrated (STI/Ergo) brifteurs, but basically some people like
bar-end shifters, and I would consider it an indication of a quality
bike.

$875? I don't know tandem pricing well. But this would be a premium
touring tandem.

--
Ryan Cousineau, http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

Burley tandems are in general part of the high-end of the tandem market,
well above the MTB-based lady-back tandems that make up the typical
rental-market fodder.

A minor quibble, based only on my own impressions of the tandem market:
Burley's are indeed a step above those seen in the rental market, but I
would place them as a "mid-price" tandem, below the "high-end" portion of
the market, which will include most Santana's and Co-Motions.

Barcons as you describe are a slightly eccentric feature, but are a
connoisseur thing: you won't see them spec'd by just anyone, only those
who desire them. There are some dull arguments for them pro and con
versus integrated (STI/Ergo) brifteurs, but basically some people like
bar-end shifters, and I would consider it an indication of a quality
bike.

Barcons tend to be more common on tandems than on singles due to two
reasons:

1) Somewhat more difficult to keep STI/Ergo properly adjusted due to the
longer cable runs, and

2) Its not uncommon for tandem teams to substitute gearing outside of that
spec'ed by the component manufacturer (For example, sub-30T granny rings
with STI) . STI/Ergo will usually shift these combinations grudging, if at
all, but barcons are more forgiving.

$875? I don't know tandem pricing well. But this would be a premium
touring tandem.

Lots of good info, including a pricing calculator, available at:
http://home.att.net/~thetandemlink/

Good luck!


Chris Neary


Chris & Tracey
1999 Co-Motion Speedster

Bob wrote:
My wife and I are recreational road riders (15-16 MPH 30-40 miles typical).
We have been thinking of getting a tandem as we ride 3 or 4 multi-day rides
during the year also. We do not know much about tandems and are on a
limited budget. Today we saw a used Burley Duet. We don't know too much
about except it is supposed to have been made in the mid nineties and ridden
by the proverbial little old lady. It appears in good shape. It has the
shifters on the ends of the drop bars. Is this a plus or minus? Does this
feature tell us anything about the "level" or quality of the bike? They are
asking $875.

Price calculators and new MSRP aside...does it fit both of you? Or
can it be tweaked to fit?
Have you ridden tandems enough to know if you'll like it? (I've
seen people attempt to borrow a test ride at the start of a tandem
rally ride, and it just wasn't going to work...that day, anyway.)
Do you like blue?
IIRC it's Burley that has a cable run underneath a bottom bracket,
which could be problematic with a certain type of roof rack. Minor
issue.
--Karen M.
with a brand-new GT Crestline and a used Counterpoint, both perfect
for my needs