We had the possibility to buy a "no brand" tandem frame for a bargain price. Therefore, we had the opportunity to mount the parts we really wanted and trusted. Of course we could profit from our experiences we had with our first tandem and just as naturally we changed a couple of things after the first tour... Until now, our bicycle is doing a fantastic job and runs smooth apart from a few tiny flaws. A great thing from A to Z!
frame | Mountainbike frame aluminium, 26", incl. some special tandem parts |
fork | CrMo, ahead-set- With affixtures to mount the Lowriders.
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front wheel | Mavic D521ceramic, 26" 36-holes, DT swiss Hügi TD hub L=100mm, DT swiss Alpine III spokes |
rear wheel | Alexrims Supra-V pro, 26" 36-holes, DT swiss Hügi TD hub L=135mm, DT swiss Alpine III spokes, Bob Yak axis- It is advisable to have a spare of the free wheel as in our case this part breaks regularly.
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ahead set | FSA Orbit- Better use a heavy and strong one than a sophisticated hightech part.
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handle-bar | MoDoLo- Supports three different positions. At the back an additional handel bar has been added (spares Patrizia from backache).
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handle-bar grip | HandEeze- Comfortable and solid handhold
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bells | |
rear mirror | - An absolutely indispensably piece. Really advisable.
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front light | - We try not to cycle at night anyway, and if we have to we use the headlamps.
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back light | - LED light with big refectors.
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brakes | Magura HS33 incl. BrakeBooster- Rim brakes, absolutely maintenance-free. Maybe we would now change to disk brakes, but only because reliable heavy duty rims for conventional brakes are not manufactured anymore.
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gear shift | Sram Rocket |
front gear shifter | Shimano XT- Well-tested and reliable technique. Many swear by speed-hubs but until now we did not meet any speed-hub cyclist who did not have to replace his expensive Rohloff speed-hub because it broke.
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rear gear shifter | Shimano XT |
cables | Teflon- Special length for the rear
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stand | - Although it's a solid rear weel stand it's not very stable. Tandem falls over from time to time. Also, the stand tends to bend under the heavy weight of the tandem. Better solution not found yet. Stabilising the front handle-bar is very helpful.
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mudguards | - We would not want to cycle without them
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front carrier | Tubus / tubus.com- The sturdy carriers from Tubus are made of steal tubes and almost indestructible. The company does not without reason grant a 30 years warranty!
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rear carrier | Tubus / tubus.com- For shorter trips one could also use a cheaper aluminium version. But bear in mind that this carriers are usually much less stiff. If you choose aluminium make sure it is riveted and not welded.
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lowrider | Tubus / tubus.com- Especially with lowriders you see many aluminium components. Especially broken ones. For bigger tours we would not suggest to use aluminium even if it is very well welded.
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cranks | Shimano LX, Octalink, front 175mm, rear 170mm- It has not always to be XT only because it's a few grams lighter
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pedals | Wellgo 902- Used with "shoe-baskets" in order not to slip out in the mud.
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inner bearing | Shimano XT, Octalink- Choose the better quality here
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left chain | Shimano IG93, Supernarrow- For the left chain we need approx. 1.5 normal chains.
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right chain | Shimano IG93, Supernarrow |
cassette | Shimano XT, 11-34- The bigger, the merrier - especially uphill.
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front saddle | Brooks B17 / brooksengland.com- Nothing beats a well broken-in Brooks saddle. Very solid and absolutely comfortable!
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rear saddle | Brooks B17 S / brooksengland.com |
tires | Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour / schwalbe.com- Only one puncture every 5'000km - this speaks for itself.
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inner tubes | Michelin Air+- Together with the Schwalbe an absolute dream team. Use car valves to get air from every gas station.
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rim tapes | - Better use fibre than syntetic.
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Cruising around with the Bob Yak is just perfect because you hardly notice it's following you (apart from the weight of course ;-). But there are a few modifications which are necessary to get the trailer ready for longer tours. 1. The lattice has to be covered with a mat to prevent the rubbing of the bag against it, otherwhise the material gets worn out very fast. 2. The low quality wheel should be replaced with a stronger one. 3. Use straps instead of the rubber bands. 4. The RackPack XL from Ortlieb is much more robust than the supplied bag. 5. If there is a need to carry extra water, it's a good idea to attach solid bottle holders (see picture).
batteries for computers | |
patches for tubes | |
glue | |
tubes | 26" and 16" |
tires | 26" and 16" |
spokes | 10 for the tandem and 5 for the trailer- Up to now we did not have to replace a single spoke. Hurray to Veloflick!
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nipples | |
cables | |
chains | - Sometimes more, depending on when we expect to find supplies.
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chain rivets | |
free wheel | - The free wheel is our working part number one. We had to replace it three times so far.
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spring for free wheel | |
special grease for free wheel | |
pinion | 11- We thought we would use the smalles pinion more often…
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axis for trailer | - We need a special axis for the trailer, and we would not find such a thing if it would break (and it cannot be fixed).
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pin for trailer | |
bearing for trailer | |
Magura repair kit | |
hydraulic tube | |
break pads | |
oil | |
Teflon grease | |
saddle grease | |
hydraulic oil | |
cloth | |
wire | |
various screws etc. | |
cable straps | |
Loc-Dite | |
shrink hose | |
multi-tool | |
tire remover | |
pedal wrench 14/15mm | |
allen spanner | |
cassette cracker | - A small tool to remove the cassette.
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screw wrench | |
wrench for saddles | |
wrench for excenter | - To tighten the front chain there is an excenter for which we use a special tool.
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chain gauge | - To see when the chains have to be replaced. If you wait too long it will damage the cassette.
- In our case, the chains have to be replaced approx. every 2'000km.
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pump | - It has to reach enough pressure (5bar).
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valve adapter | - Handy if you have to use inner tubes with other valve types.
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See also corresponding paragraph under equipment | |