Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Albi's on the tandem

I'm thinking through my list of winter fussing projects at the moment.

And I'm pondering putting Albatross bars on the tandem -- for el capitan (me).

Liza really wants to emphasize chilled out rides and my back always hurts after man-handling that thing around, even for just a few miles. The Albi's may be just the ticket.

It's a super pain swapping out the bars on that tandem. If I do the swap, I think I'll put couplers on the cables and use a faux-threadless setup so I can use a stem with a removable face plate.

'Course putting Albi's on the tandem will require swapping the B17 from the tandem with the B67 that's on the cycle truck. Not sure how I feel about that.

The goal is to do at least one 2-night "tour" on the tandem next year, but hopefully a 3-nighter or a couple 2-nighters will happen.

Just thinking out loud here.

8 comments:

Not said...

You can get threaded stems with removable faceplates:
Delta
Nashbar

I assume that any bike shop could order the Delta one.

Anonymous said...

Albatross! What next, old man, a recumbent and knee socks?

You might try mounting them upside down for a comfy, but quasi-sporty look.

All stems should have a removable face plate. Should be a law. Maybe the Tea Party could get on it.

The B17 may work fine, anyway?

One downside--you'll block Liza's view even more by sitting upright. A sweaty dude like you should be the stoker. Maybe Liza can (wo)man-handle the steering with Albatross bars.

John Speare said...

Not -- I'm aware of those stems, but they're just too turdy for me -- not that a threadless set up is gorgeous or anything... I actually have dirt drop looking Nitto threaded that I'll probably end up using.

Anon - there are strict bathing and non-flatulance rules for me when captaining the tandem. I follow them strictly (and often painfully)...

Stine said...

I've got a couple moustache bars, if you're so inclined...I just can't seem to ride 'em anymore

Noah Sutherland said...

Have you seen the Origin8 Ultim-8 stem available through J&B? It looks rather sleek. Only drawback is that it's rather short (only 140mm tall).

John Speare said...

thanks Stine -- I've tried so hard to like moustache bars and in many configs... but after about 30 miles hands/fingers/etc go numb.

Noah - I'll check it out. With the albi- I don't need as much height in the stem.

rory said...

what about the jitensha bars? i think they work great on the cargoturd...

Unknown said...

Howdy! I know this is a very old thread but I was wondering what quill adapter you used for the softride stem? I am contemplating something similar on our "ancient" Burley Rock 'n Roll. Thanks!