MTB Tandems

I have some friends that rode tandem road forever before discovering mountain tandems. They currently have a MTB tandem fat bike as well as a full custom hardtail and are now waiting on a new FS frame that is being made by some company in Spain. They did both for several years, including 100 mike races but now just stick to the mountain bike. They enter enduro races, ride at the Summit bike park and all over the western US. They've gone win trips with our group to Oregon & St George/Hurricane.
 
I dream of riding a mountain tandem with my wife, even if it's just fire roads. Wife goes biking maybe 5-10 times of year, and can't justify the cost. I'd love to rent one, if anyone knows of a shop crazy enough to stock a mountain tandem demo. Anyone ever see one with a dropper for the stoker? Maybe it's just not worth it with a wheelbase so long, but always wondered.
 
stevers said:
I dream of riding a mountain tandem with my wife, even if it's just fire roads. Wife goes biking maybe 5-10 times of year, and can't justify the cost. I'd love to rent one, if anyone knows of a shop crazy enough to stock a mountain tandem demo. Anyone ever see one with a dropper for the stoker? Maybe it's just not worth it with a wheelbase so long, but always wondered.
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Two of them... In the wild!

This is a lot steeper than it looks... It's also the chute where I impaled my leg with the handlebars going OTB on a solo ride. Still have the scar! :oops:

 
stevers said:
I dream of riding a mountain tandem with my wife, even if it's just fire roads. Wife goes biking maybe 5-10 times of year, and can't justify the cost. I'd love to rent one, if anyone knows of a shop crazy enough to stock a mountain tandem demo. Anyone ever see one with a dropper for the stoker? Maybe it's just not worth it with a wheelbase so long, but always wondered.
Click to expand...


No shop around here is gonna rent them.

The captain has to be a really strong rider if the stoker doesn’t ride much. Both when it comes to pedaling as well as just handling the bike. It’s a lot like trying to steer a big rig towing a school bus through the isles of a china shop.

I enjoyed the time we had on ours. Rodenit down some things that many wouldn’t ride by them selves.

Ultimately we sold it because it took up too much space in the garage, and some minor upcoming issues that I didn’t want to deal with.

The bikes are sooooo long that a dropper post really isn’t needed. You’d have to ride down some seriously steep terrain to have to get the weight that far back over the rear wheel.

We got enough use out of ours to warrant buying it. They hold their value. They don’t come up on the used market too often.
 
mtnbikej said:
No shop around here is gonna rent them.

The captain has to be a really strong rider if the stoker doesn’t ride much. Both when it comes to pedaling as well as just handling the bike. It’s a lot like trying to steer a big rig towing a school bus through the isles of a china shop.

I enjoyed the time we had on ours. Rodenit down some things that many wouldn’t ride by them selves.

Ultimately we sold it because it took up too much space in the garage, and some minor upcoming issues that I didn’t want to deal with.

The bikes are sooooo long that a dropper post really isn’t needed. You’d have to ride down some seriously steep terrain to have to get the weight that far back over the rear wheel.

We got enough use out of ours to warrant buying it. They hold their value. They don’t come up on the used market too often.
Click to expand...

I got the legs and I used weigh a ton. +92lbs wife shouldn't be that big of a deal. I've gone from 290lbs to 225lbs, so it'll be like when I was riding at my heaviest, plus a 25lbs pack.

It makes absolutely no financial sense for a shop to carry a mountain tandem, either for sale or demo, but I can dream :). I never see them used, but I found this on Craigslist which has got me thinking:
https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/d/tustin-ventana-tandem-mtb/6931198437.html

Components and tapered headtube puts the year around maybe 2013?
 
stevers said:
I got the legs and I used weigh a ton. +92lbs wife shouldn't be that big of a deal. I've gone from 290lbs to 225lbs, so it'll be like when I was riding at my heaviest, plus a 25lbs pack.

It makes absolutely no financial sense for a shop to carry a mountain tandem, either for sale or demo, but I can dream :). I never see them used, but I found this on Craigslist which has got me thinking:
https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/d/tustin-ventana-tandem-mtb/6931198437.html

Components and tapered headtube puts the year around maybe 2013?
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I saw that. Killer price @ $2600. I sold our ‘07/08 for $2700.

Possibly.
 
stevers said:
I got the legs and I used weigh a ton. +92lbs wife shouldn't be that big of a deal. I've gone from 290lbs to 225lbs, so it'll be like when I was riding at my heaviest, plus a 25lbs pack.

It makes absolutely no financial sense for a shop to carry a mountain tandem, either for sale or demo, but I can dream :). I never see them used, but I found this on Craigslist which has got me thinking:
https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/d/tustin-ventana-tandem-mtb/6931198437.html

Components and tapered headtube puts the year around maybe 2013?
Click to expand...

Get it!!! It'll either work great and you'll keep it, or you'll re-sell it for around the same price.
 
mtnbikej said:
No shop around here is gonna rent them.

The captain has to be a really strong rider if the stoker doesn’t ride much. Both when it comes to pedaling as well as just handling the bike. It’s a lot like trying to steer a big rig towing a school bus through the isles of a china shop.

I enjoyed the time we had on ours. Rodenit down some things that many wouldn’t ride by them selves.

Ultimately we sold it because it took up too much space in the garage, and some minor upcoming issues that I didn’t want to deal with.

The bikes are sooooo long that a dropper post really isn’t needed. You’d have to ride down some seriously steep terrain to have to get the weight that far back over the rear wheel.

We got enough use out of ours to warrant buying it. They hold their value. They don’t come up on the used market too often.
Click to expand...
I'm bummed you guys sold the big bike, but you really nailed the storage thing. You have to have some space for a huge thing like that which doesn't get used super often. And you have to have a good setup for transporting it.

But for sure, it's something every riding couple looking for a unique experience should try. I had a cruiser tandem, so it wasn't a huge leap to get a mountain tandem. Ours was a 29er hardtail, but we rode a bunch of stout trails on it. Anything Ventana or Fandango will be worthy. If you got the space, go for it, @stevers!
 
mike said:
I'm bummed you guys sold the big bike, but you really nailed the storage thing. You have to have some space for a huge thing like that which doesn't get used super often. And you have to have a good setup for transporting it.

But for sure, it's something every riding couple looking for a unique experience should try. I had a cruiser tandem, so it wasn't a huge leap to get a mountain tandem. Ours was a 29er hardtail, but we rode a bunch of stout trails on it. Anything Ventana or Fandango will be worthy. If you got the space, go for it, @stevers!
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Yeah...the fork, shock, brakes and rear rim were on the way out....and finding a fork to work with it was going to be an issue. Plus I didn't wanna spend a bunch more money on a 26" bike....really wanted a 29er.

But it was fun while we had it.
 
I bought a new tandem a while back, and we're really happy with it. It's a mid-90's Santana Cilantro, which was their fancier steel bike with 26" tires. Nice XTR drivetrain, good hubs, butted Tange tubing.

I purchased it all stock, with funky bar ends pulled back like a DUI bike. It had 1.75 Schwalbe Marathons which negated the reason for getting this (wanted supple-life tires). The original owners were in Corona del Mar and aged out. They really liked and took it all over. His wife cried about selling it.

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First mission was getting comfortable for us. I put the upright cockpit on it that I had on our previous Trek tandem. That was fine, and gave us a nice riding 'round town bike. Number one goal was keeping the stoker comfortable, and the upright Nitto Albatross bars in back definitely did that. Comfy Brooks B67/68 saddles. I swapped on some Schwalbe Big Apples which at 2.15 are about as wide as it will take. Hooray for the 90s! The Big Apples are about as supple as I would want on a tandem. Roll great on asphalt, good on dirt if you go in a straight line.

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The upright bars just weren't working for me though. While comfortable for townie rides, any sort of climbing was just miserable with them. I looked around a lot, and found some Bontrager Satellite bars for the rear, and Spank Spoons for the front. That was more like it! Instantly felt more maneuverable and much easier to climb with! And best of all, stoker was happy with them (reach and rise about the same, just more perpendicular holds). Of course a week after I did that, I came across the Soma Dream Bars which were in silver so matched better. They have a slacker angle (25 vs 9) and a bit more rise (50 vs 40) as well. Let me put a normal stem on vs the high-riser I needed for the Spoons. REALLY like these bars BTW... consider them if you're looking! I swapped out the B67 for a more aggressive B17, and I think we're good to go! Five plus mile ride on it today and we jammed up the hill with no drama (previously needed a break). It's fantastic on casual dirt, and comfortable on the road. Basket up front for our crap lets it be utilitarian when necessary. All around happy tandemers!

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