Rachel and I have been borrowing HubbuHubbuHs since they came out and since this is the last run, I had to get one. It also helps a lot that we just moved to a new place that has enough room in the garage that I don't have to lock it up in the backyard.
At the time of this writing, we've only ridden it once so far, to get Thai food near our house, but even on that short ride it super natural and stable. I don't have grand plans of riding tandem constantly. If we ride to the movies once a month and maybe through the park every couple of weeks, I'll be more than happy. I hope I can convince my friends to ride it with me every now and then too out in the Headlands or up Twin Peaks at least.
James gifted me a Rapid Rise Deore - it works great.
This eccentric is so cool and I feel totally competent adjusting it now. It's ultra satisfying to rotate it forward and see the chain tension. If you're getting one of these, don't be afraid to mess around with it.
Here's my sync chain tip that I came up with: Size the chain up and then put it behind both cranks, then toe strap each crank through the pedal hole to the seattubes. Put the chain on, release the toe straps and then rotate the eccentric forward. That way the crank arms are sync'd up.
The EYC is underrated. It's plenty bright for city riding and it can take a beating. We had one on our cargo bike and because it was positioned in an exposed spot, it was constantly being bashed by doors and bike racks, but it always worked perfectly.
Rachel prefers Wavie-type bars and I decided I'd follow along with something similar. We got the Co-Motion stoker because the inexpensive one we have on the site is sized for bars that sweep back. I plan on using the telescoping Co-Motion stem as a template for a custom stem later on.
I'm a rear hub snob, although the stock Velocity hubs are also really nice. We'll see if the wheels I built can support two people! They've worked so far.
They didn't supply top caps for some reason, so everybody who got a tandem is getting one of these Gus Boots ones.
The new IRD levers work great and have a nice minimal clamp that allows a Silver shifter to pass without hitting a bolt.
James taught me how to rig up a rear dynamo light. I like the p-clamp grip on this lil guy, and it's surprisingly bright. I'll probably supplement it with reflective stuff too.
Love it!
Parts list from memory:
- Harvey Mushman Crust bars
- Nitto Wavie Bars
- Paul 35mm BoxCar stem
- IRD long pull levers
- Deore V-brakes
- Shimano N72 front hub
- White Industries XMRT rear hub
- Cliffhanger rims
- Gravelking 650b x 53tires
- Silver Cranks
- HT Pedals
- Deore rapid riser rear derailer
- Skeleton Key front derailer
- Silver2 shifters
- B17 front, B68 rear
- SimWorks Obento front rack
- Co-Motion stoker stem
- Oury Grips
- Pletscher touring kickstand
- Mew2 rear dyno
- Blue Lug net
- I think that's it!