# Vintage Tandems?



## wookie (Jan 24, 2007)

Just curious if anybody has one?


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## wxflyer (Apr 30, 2006)

'88 or so Ritchey Skyliner. This is my first tandem, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it's stable, smooth and rides like a dream.


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## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

Is 1990 vintage?


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## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)




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## wookie (Jan 24, 2007)

DoubleCentury said:


>


Crazy headtube!


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## hollister (Sep 16, 2005)

That photo makes the timing ring look all funny

Love the color


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## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)

The captain is a clown.


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## ssulljm (Sep 3, 2006)

Late 70's 27in wheels, Mafac Canti's, sorry bout the sideways pic,


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## Guest (Jul 1, 2013)

*87 Skyliner*


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## 202cycle (Dec 6, 2006)

tductape that looks like a Rodriguez with steerhorns. Very R&Eish.


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## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

AL-26
Bought new at R/E in 90!

Old picture. Outside of the skinny tires that is very close to the original build.
Still hanging in the garage, been through several different builds. Some years it get's ridden a lot others not so much. Depends on whats going on in my life.


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## rockychrysler (Aug 9, 2003)

wookie said:


> Just curious if anybody has one?


does my old 199? specialized deja tu count? RockyChrysler.com: Just about a bike [Specialized Deja Tu tandem]


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## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)

rockychrysler said:


> specialized deja tu count?


I'm curious to know how a Duke fork designed for a single bike handles tandem duty. Are you running extra stiff springs and thick damping fluid?


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## rockychrysler (Aug 9, 2003)

DoubleCentury said:


> I'm curious to know how a Duke fork designed for a single bike handles tandem duty. Are you running extra stiff springs and thick damping fluid?


nope. just a little more air, top and bottom. that's all. aint never been no thing. hundreds of miles on it. plus, did you see the color match? come on! had to.


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## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)

Impressive, and it obviously gets used off-road.


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## Guest (Jul 2, 2013)

Too much fun to not ride them.


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## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

That Duke would make me nervous. Glad it's holding up.

Agreed Shawn. Some of my most memorable rides have been on the tandem. From cruising around the neighborhood with my mom, to trying to pass singles on some narrow singletrack.


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## whatisaidwas (Apr 26, 2014)

There's so much Ritchey love here. How about some Fisher?

















1988 Team Tandem


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## stan lee (Mar 5, 2006)

Landshark


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

I wish we rode our Ibis more often.


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2014)

^^ Cool Eric, Koski fork?


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

shawnw said:


> ^^ Cool Eric, Koski fork?


Thanks. I'm actually not sure about the fork. It's the stock fork; not sure if it was made in-house or not.


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## sbsbiker (Dec 1, 2007)

It's not a mountain bike, but it's a tandem, and a MOOTS!
It has a drag brake, and U-Brakes(3 leavers), XT shifters, and Phil Wood hubs.


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## fat tire trader (Sep 18, 2010)

Here is an airbush painting of me and Don Mertle racing on my modified Schwinn Twin sometime in the early 80s









To see a bigger image click here

https://fattiretrading.com/images/ftf_tandem.jpg


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## Himself (Oct 11, 2008)

Hi, I'm thinking of getting one to ride rail trails with my wife as she struggles to keep up on the 29er. They are pretty expensive here (NZ) and very few second hand ones. Still......I think the idea has merit, just a costly mistake if she hates it!!! Lol


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## yo-Nate-y (Mar 5, 2009)

Wow--that Moots is hot. Any more pics?


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## sbsbiker (Dec 1, 2007)

yo-Nate-y said:


> Wow--that Moots is hot. Any more pics?


It's in the garage, I can get some.


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## whatisaidwas (Apr 26, 2014)

I've been holding out on you guys. Is this vintage enough? (I don't know that it is. Looks fairly modern to me.) Do we need more photos?









1998 Manitou tandem


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## jeff (Jan 13, 2004)

If that is actually a Manitou I'd say yes we need more pics. History too.


whatisaidwas said:


> I've been holding out on you guys. Is this vintage enough? (I don't know that it is. Looks fairly modern to me.) Do we need more photos?
> 
> View attachment 945783
> 
> ...


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## whatisaidwas (Apr 26, 2014)

This 1998 Manitou tandem was a Craigslist find earlier this year. The price was very fair and I had to have it. (As if there is something wrong with owning 3 tandems.) I bought it from one of the folks who built it. It was an after-hours project at Manitou. I believe they made two, the other being a different design that did not survive.

The frame is oversize True Temper with an Evolution headset, press-in bottom brackets, an X-Vert fork and a custom stoker Flex Stem. I believe it has 5.5" of fork travel and 4.5" of rear suspension travel. This bike is a Barcalounger. When riding it, we see the bumps and rocks and ruts, but they do not affect us, and we do not feel them. The paint is color shifting, so it's different depending upon which direction you view it. Santana has offered this paint on their bikes.

The Manitou is somewhat aged and has a few issues, but it's an incredible upgrade from the rigid rattle trap mountain tandem I've been riding for decades. Descents are now actually fun instead of just holding on for dear life.

The original Hayes front brake was poor, and my local tech said replace, don't rebuild. 1998 was the year that Manitou's fork disc mount was different from all others. I had to build a new caliper mounting bracket, but all is good now. There is no easy way to mount a disc brake on the rear wheel, but the Cane Creek rear caliper with the stiffening arch works really well and is fine as is.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

The Manitou is really cool. I had no idea they built these - since it's an "after hours" one-off project there's no way to have known they existed. 

Thanks for posting this. It's really cool!!


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## sbsbiker (Dec 1, 2007)

So if this is one of two, and it's brother didn't survive, couldn't it be considered for the rare bike thread? Or do we need to wait till its older?


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## sbsbiker (Dec 1, 2007)

I'LL bring this thread back up with pi s of my new Ritchey Skyliner. I need some knobby for it but it's ready to go.


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## sbsbiker (Dec 1, 2007)




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## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)

Nice sbsbiker!

You can never have too many of those, right?


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

Every tandem has a vintage retro classic spirit. It's the athlethic equivalent of unselfish fraternity.


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## sbsbiker (Dec 1, 2007)

DoubleCentury said:


> Nice sbsbiker!
> 
> You can never have too many of those, right?


Only have this one, and the Moots tandem above, but it's a roadie. My other Ritchey is a '85 Commando. 
The parts on this Ritchey look almost new, no wear on the pedals, chainrings, or even brake surfaces.The hubs may still be packed with Shimano grease. Plus it fits the wife and I, while the Moots is too small in from for me to ride without discomfort.


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## Slow86gn (Feb 4, 2013)

Built this 1992. Mountain Cycle Suspenders and pro stop disc brakes. Bullseye hubs and cranks. Control tech stems. Frame 6061-T6 .065 straight gauge tubes. Cannondale delta v swingarm.


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## jeff (Jan 13, 2004)

That's bad ass.


Slow86gn said:


> Built this 1992. Mountain Cycle Suspenders and pro stop disc brakes. Bullseye hubs and cranks. Control tech stems. Frame 6061-T6 .065 straight gauge tubes. Cannondale delta v swingarm.


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## Slow86gn (Feb 4, 2013)

Here's when I got a little paint on it.


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## whatisaidwas (Apr 26, 2014)

That's a sweet red custom Double-V! +1

---

The '98 Manitou is back on the trail after being down for a year for repairs and upgrades. Most of the wait was getting a cracked seat tube fixed. Oops. For 2018 we can shred again. Now with more bling!


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## whatisaidwas (Apr 26, 2014)

The Manitou got some updates and glamor shots. We shred the local SoCal mtns on it. I believe the main frame TIG and paint are by Tony Inderbitzin.


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

Both those tandems are amazing, love the Manitou, paint is just unreal. 

The Mountain Cycle one speaks to my inner Cannondale geek, too. So they scrounged up Cannondale EST rears for them? I love that era of stuff, cross pollination reigned supreme!


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## J_Westy (Jan 7, 2009)

whatisaidwas said:


> The '98 Manitou is back on the trail after being down for a year for repairs and upgrades. Most of the wait was getting a cracked seat tube fixed.


Super nice :thumbsup:

i can't pick out the repair in the pics, well done to whoever did it!

Was the original fork un-rebuildable?


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## whatisaidwas (Apr 26, 2014)

J_Westy said:


> Super nice :thumbsup:
> i can't pick out the repair in the pics, well done to whoever did it!
> Was the original fork un-rebuildable?


Thank you. The rear seat tube cracked near the front derailleur. (It's the Manitou way.) Paul added two gussets and I had extra of the original paint so touch-up was not a big deal. It was as much trouble to take the frame to a shop with a press to get the swingarm off for the repair. The original X-Vert fork was a flexy flyer, not confidence inducing at all. Also it didn't have enough rake and the steering felt heavy, tiring. The new Fox fork has bigger legs and G2 geometry, which means more rake, less trail, for easy neutral steering on a tandem. Way mo better.


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## surlytman (Nov 9, 2005)

Our Ibis Cousin It 1993


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