Buying a Tandem
After borrowing a Tandem from us you may be interested in buying one for yourself. You can pay hundreds or thousands of pounds for a tandem, just like you can with a solo bike. We started off with the cheapest one we could find at the time, a Raleigh Pioneer Venture U+1, which was about £450, five years ago. The price hasn't really changed since then. It is a mountain bike style which drops to quite a low size at the back (suitable for an 7/8 year old+). The low crossbar at the front makes it easy to step over the frame, allowing you to steady the bike whilst the rider gets on or off and for stopping at traffic lights. By putting seat extension posts on it, two tall riders can ride it. I think that Raleigh have recently updated the U+1 to the Adventurer (and put the price up).
There are others
There are a number of other similar style tandems on the market now and they are cheaper. The Reflex Timberline, shown on left, and the Kingston Silverdale can be picked up new for about £280 (on a popular auction site), the Ammaco Twosome, shown below left, for about £300, the Atala Due, shown below right, for about £330 and we bought an ex-demo Viking Salerno for £310 inc delivery. Other starter tandems include the Barracuda California, shown below middle, at about £500 and the Dawes Duet , shown at the bottom, at about £630.
Rather than buying a new tandem you might like to consider buying a secondhand one and there is plenty of discussion on the Tandem Club discussion board on the pros and cons of each type.
Rather than buying a new tandem you might like to consider buying a secondhand one and there is plenty of discussion on the Tandem Club discussion board on the pros and cons of each type.
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Trying out a Tandem
Tandems are now readily available on the internet and it is therefore hard to try one out before you buy it. Even if you go to a tandem bike shop you might not be able to try one out. We have a range of tandems at Charlotte's Tandems which might give you an indication of the type that is right for you or we can point you in the direction of a friend who might have one for you to try out. Here is a good sizing guide, but remember to take off an inch or two for the stoker's handlebar stem.
