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bruce
September 15th 03, 08:12 AM
I'm interested in getting a tandem with USS. I am 6'1'' and my wife the
stoker is 5'2''
mostly ride around NJ and do short day rides 30-50 miles. I hope to test out
an eliminator11 and m5. Would like to hear from toughs you who have
experience with these bikes. maybe some hits on " must have'" that I should
conceder. Like do I need a drag brake ? etc. Thanks!

mike s
September 15th 03, 01:44 PM
"bruce" > wrote in message >...
> I'm interested in getting a tandem with USS. I am 6'1'' and my wife the
> stoker is 5'2''
> mostly ride around NJ and do short day rides 30-50 miles. I hope to test out
> an eliminator11 and m5. Would like to hear from toughs you who have
> experience with these bikes. maybe some hits on " must have'" that I should
> conceder. Like do I need a drag brake ? etc. Thanks!

Bruce: I have seen both of these tandems but haven't ridden any. I
can say that the Longbikes recumbents are some of the most nicely
finished recumbents I have seen. Greg Peek makes a very nicely
finished product. They are heavy (all recumbent tandems are heavy)
but very nicely turned out. The M5 (which incidentally Hostelshoppe
has one demo on sale now) is a loooooooong tandem. Transportation has
to be a major undertaken. The advantage that I saw was the M5 seat.
Our tandem (Barcroft Columbia) is a very comfortable tandem but shares
some of the problems all tandems bring with them. They are tough
getting up hill due to their weight (and the combined weight of two
riders). I look at the M5 seat as a way to shed 6 - 8 pounds of bike
weight. I also have found that the solid platform that a carbon fiber
seat provides allows all pedaling torque to go to the pedals. None is
lost by any backward movement into a giving mesh seatback. We are now
investigating substituting Barcroft's new cf seats for our standard
RANS seats for that reason. You do give up some comfort as the seat
rides harsher, but I don't find it comfortable straining up big hills
either.

I presume you didn't mention the Double Vision because you weren't
interested in it. At the tandem rallies we pass Screamers all day on
the ride but seldom pass a Vision. They tend to pass us. I don't know
why they are faster. They are long and flexy, but they seem to really
move.

Good luck on the search.

Mike S.
St. Louis, Mo.

Barcroft Virginia
Barcroft Columbia
RANS Rocket.

bruce
September 16th 03, 05:47 AM
Thanks for you comments, I have not ruled out the Double Vision yet but I
felt the stiff frame design and the low stance of the Eliminator nitro would
make it a better bike. I test road a Screamer and liked it just fine. I just
hoping to find some one with more tandem experience to help me evaluate the
differences between all of them. I want a fast ride but not at the expense
of stability. I heard the vision can get tricky with speed and bumps in the
picture. The Eliminator is about 5 pounds heaver but I don't know if that
will really slow it down much here in flat nj. I'm looking for a test ride
to help work out some of these questions.

"mike s" > wrote in message
om...
> "bruce" > wrote in message
>...
> > I'm interested in getting a tandem with USS. I am 6'1'' and my wife the
> > stoker is 5'2''
> > mostly ride around NJ and do short day rides 30-50 miles. I hope to test
out
> > an eliminator11 and m5. Would like to hear from toughs you who have
> > experience with these bikes. maybe some hits on " must have'" that I
should
> > conceder. Like do I need a drag brake ? etc. Thanks!
>
> Bruce: I have seen both of these tandems but haven't ridden any. I
> can say that the Longbikes recumbents are some of the most nicely
> finished recumbents I have seen. Greg Peek makes a very nicely
> finished product. They are heavy (all recumbent tandems are heavy)
> but very nicely turned out. The M5 (which incidentally Hostelshoppe
> has one demo on sale now) is a loooooooong tandem. Transportation has
> to be a major undertaken. The advantage that I saw was the M5 seat.
> Our tandem (Barcroft Columbia) is a very comfortable tandem but shares
> some of the problems all tandems bring with them. They are tough
> getting up hill due to their weight (and the combined weight of two
> riders). I look at the M5 seat as a way to shed 6 - 8 pounds of bike
> weight. I also have found that the solid platform that a carbon fiber
> seat provides allows all pedaling torque to go to the pedals. None is
> lost by any backward movement into a giving mesh seatback. We are now
> investigating substituting Barcroft's new cf seats for our standard
> RANS seats for that reason. You do give up some comfort as the seat
> rides harsher, but I don't find it comfortable straining up big hills
> either.
>
> I presume you didn't mention the Double Vision because you weren't
> interested in it. At the tandem rallies we pass Screamers all day on
> the ride but seldom pass a Vision. They tend to pass us. I don't know
> why they are faster. They are long and flexy, but they seem to really
> move.
>
> Good luck on the search.
>
> Mike S.
> St. Louis, Mo.
>
> Barcroft Virginia
> Barcroft Columbia
> RANS Rocket.

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