# T900 - How stout?



## SaxMan (May 21, 2005)

I picked up a Trek T900 for myself and my daughter to ride. My daughter is autistic/apraxic, and while she is fairly athletic, she's just not getting riding a bike by herself. She will stare down at the spinning cranks, and she hasn't quite figured out brakes -- two things that could be quite disastrous riding a bike. Prior to the T900, I used a Gator Bar to hook her bike up to my out-to-pasture Klein Pulse Comp, and she did well with that rather bulky arrangements. She is also doing very well with the T900.

My question is, is this bike tought enough to take off road? I'm less than pleased with the Tektro linear pull brakes, but the rest of the bike seems fairly well built. I've already used it on the C&O Canal with her, but I'm looking at some of the undulating easier singletrack like the Seneca Greenway in Maryland. The owners manual kind of spooked me as they don't recommend any off road riding. Maybe that's just Trek's way of passing off liability?

This is my second venture in the world of tandems. My first one was a disaster: A "North Woods" 21 speed that I bought out of the Sharper Image Catalog for myself and my wife to ride. I learned that you get what you pay for. This bike was made from leftover metal from the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. I also learned that sometimes riding with an inexperienced rider in the stoker seat isn't always fun. Any time my wife thought we were in a questionable situation, she lock her legs on the pedals, taking away something I may need to get us out of that situation. My daughter is much better at staying loose. 

Any good ideas for mods (besides upgrading the brakes) to make this bike more compatible with off road riding?


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## TandemNut (Mar 12, 2004)

Ride it as far as it will reasonably go, don't put anything more than routine maintenance stuff into it, and save for something better. Your earlier experience rings true for many entry-level tandems. The T900 isn't a bad tandem, but it's also not really designed for off-road tandeming. I suspect the low BB height will hamper it, as will the geometry, and the frame may not be as laterally stiff as you'd like. But, I am relatively sure the material for the T900 was NOT sourced from the same scrap heap, so you're already doing better in that regard! 

Once you get a feel for what kind of riding you're going to enjoy, you'll have a better idea of what sort of setup you'll want. 

I have not heard the term Apraxic before.


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## SaxMan (May 21, 2005)

Apraxic - no speech. Similar is dispraxia. Apraxic may be a bit of an exaggeration, because she does usually speak single words, or can put a couple of words together. Usually while we're riding she keeps up a running commentary of various verbalizations interspersed with giggles.


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## Okayfine (Sep 7, 2010)

Nothing makes me happier than when my wife is giggling on the back of our tandem!

As to mods, Alex already gave you the smart advice regarding upgrading your T900. Without dumping a bunch of money into it, there isn't a lot you're going to accomplish. Adding discs would be a great upgrade, but cost prohibitive. You could upgrade your stoker's suspension seat post and swap on some knobby tires, but that's probably as far as makes sense.

You can buy into a capable tandem for not a lot of money, such as:
http://forums.mtbr.com/tandem-mountain-bikes/paid-spam-ventana-ecdm-sale-minnesota-988986.html

Now, I realize that $2500 may not seem like "not a lot of money," but for the value there, it is an outstanding deal. We bought a used ECdM for $3500 and felt we were stealing it. We were riding a KHS "off road" tandem that was basically KHS' road tandem with the addition of flat bars and knobby tires. We were limited by the bike in off-road conditions. Buying the ECdM opened up trails, distance, and speed we didn't even know we were missing.

Ride your T900 as much as possible, just be wary of its limits. :thumbsup:


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## SaxMan (May 21, 2005)

A disc upgrade isn't really an option, as there are no braze-ons for a disc mount. While linear-pull brakes are pretty old school, I have found the Avid single-digit to be the best of the bunch. I don't know if that will bring any increase in braking performance over the Tektros. 

The "North Woods" bike had cantilever brakes. It's quite a weird feeling when you apply the brakes heavily and the bike barely slows down! 

I try to get out at least once a week with her. After a few rides in the neighborhood and the adjoining hiker-biker trail, we've been taking the show on the road and hitting other parks, trails as well as the C&O Canal. It seems she can take about an hour's worth of riding before she's decided that she has had enough. 

If we continue to progress with the T900, I may consider going with a true mountain tandem...or maybe a real road tandem. It will probably be best to wait until she stops growing so we can figure out what kind of frame size we need. Odds are she is going to end up taller than me. I know those kinds of bikes aren't cheap, but I learned a long time ago that with bikes, you get what you pay for. We've plunked down all kinds of money for various therapies and programs over the year that have had dubious, if any, result, so paying for something I know she will enjoy is not an issue.


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## Okayfine (Sep 7, 2010)

SaxMan said:


> as there are no braze-ons for a disc mount.


That's why it's not cheap. But it can be done. New fork with disc tab, new wheels F/R, and a Brake Therapy rear caliper adapter will get you there, but then you've spent $500-1000 (depending on if you go with a suspension fork).


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## workbench (Mar 6, 2017)

Okayfine said:


> That's why it's not cheap. But it can be done. New fork with disc tab, new wheels F/R, and a Brake Therapy rear caliper adapter will get you there, but then you've spent $500-1000 (depending on if you go with a suspension fork).


I have a T900 that I take a regular bike packing trips with my 12 year old son. We ride mostly road, but I have would love to add a front shock to it. Do you know how I can find out which brand/model shock is compatible?


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## mactweek (Oct 3, 2011)

contact Alex at mtbtandems.com, he can tell you if there is anything that will work. It won't be cheap. A fork strong enough for a tandem is not cheap and might require a new wheel as well. there might be something like an older dirtjumper fork that will work,


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