Kent Tandem Bicycle

In article
,
landotter wrote:

On Jun 28, 3:06*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:
mic'ing the ball bearings is a rather bizarre plan, but the dude was
clearly in there already to lube things up, so why not?

You had a different take on it than me. When I read that part, I was
thinking the review might be something of a spoof. Anyone that anal about
bearing diameters would either not be buying that bike or supplying his own
bearings.

Either way--for someone with a bunch of parts in the ****it buckit and
wheels in the rafters--a 250 tandem frame alone could be a fun
project--and the review was informative and hilarious at the same
time. I think it was unintentionally funny--unless the person was
playing to an intended crowd of engineers or something.

They actually have an even cheaper tandem for sale at Amazon which may
also be better. It's an MTB-based design from Pacific, and unlike the
Kent, it appears to use an eccentric BB to adjust chain tension rather
than the downmarket idler solution on the Kent.

$200, even a better side-project, and they'll ship the thing for free,
which is a ridiculously good deal.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
In article
,
landotter wrote:

On Jun 28, 3:06 pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:
mic'ing the ball bearings is a rather bizarre plan, but the
dude
was clearly in there already to lube things up, so why not?

You had a different take on it than me. When I read that part, I
was
thinking the review might be something of a spoof. Anyone that
anal
about bearing diameters would either not be buying that bike or
supplying his own bearings.

Either way--for someone with a bunch of parts in the ****it
buckit
and wheels in the rafters--a 250 tandem frame alone could be a
fun
project--and the review was informative and hilarious at the same
time. I think it was unintentionally funny--unless the person was
playing to an intended crowd of engineers or something.

They actually have an even cheaper tandem for sale at Amazon which
may
also be better. It's an MTB-based design from Pacific, and unlike
the
Kent, it appears to use an eccentric BB to adjust chain tension
rather
than the downmarket idler solution on the Kent.

$200, even a better side-project, and they'll ship the thing for
free,
which is a ridiculously good deal.

It's out of stock.
http://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Dualie...ef=pd_sbs_sg_1

There's also a Mongoose for $299
http://www.amazon.com/Mongoose-Wande...ef=pd_sbs_sg_4

I've owned a 1970 Schwinn Twinn tandem since 1979, but my daughter
talked me into letting her take it to Philadelphia when I owned a
minivan, which it could be coaxed into with difficulty and
disassembly. Since I now own a Prius, I have resigned myself to
never getting it back. I miss it.

There's a certain coolness to a cheap tandem, as long as it isn't
unsafely made and you don't do anything stupid like try to do
RAGBRAI on it.

--
Mike Kruger

"viewed in retrospect, it is clear that it has been quite
predictable."
(David Runciman) "I'd only call it "predictable" if you actually
predict it ahead of time" (Andrew Gelman)