Thank you to everyone for the advice. We have taken a look at it and my wife was very happy with the fit especially as with the smaller frame she can step over the crossbar. The seller also threw in a lockable roof carrier to fit on my roofbars so for £250 we are very happy. The only change we need to make is to raise the handle bars about 2". They are a little low even at full height on the front seat post. So I am looking for either slightly raised bars or a different mount to raise the existing bars. If anyone knows where to get such a thing I would be very grateful.
You can fit an ahead stem vertically off the existing rear handlebar attachment to raise the current bars, or for more variety how about fitting a set of butterfly bars?
Sleepymouse wrote:The only change we need to make is to raise the handle bars about 2". They are a little low even at full height on the front seat post. So I am looking for either slightly raised bars or a different mount to raise the existing bars. If anyone knows where to get such a thing I would be very grateful.
can you post a picture of the current arrangement?
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.” ― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Cosmicbike wrote:You can fit an ahead stem vertically off the existing rear handlebar attachment to raise the current bars, or for more variety how about fitting a set of butterfly bars?
Thats what we have, mrs rjb only uses the tops. You could also look at riser bars
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway X2, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840
Sleepymouse wrote:Thank you to everyone for the advice. We have taken a look at it and my wife was very happy with the fit especially as with the smaller frame she can step over the crossbar. The seller also threw in a lockable roof carrier to fit on my roofbars so for £250 we are very happy. The only change we need to make is to raise the handle bars about 2". They are a little low even at full height on the front seat post. So I am looking for either slightly raised bars or a different mount to raise the existing bars. If anyone knows where to get such a thing I would be very grateful.
Plus One Butterfly bars are good, many different positions are possible
Entertainer, juvenile, curmudgeon, PoB, 30120 Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
I'm 5' 6" and my preferred frame size is 22" ± ½" (56cm ± 1cm). That's probably a bit larger than most people of my height would choose but foot size is a factor ... and mine are large for my height.
There's no way I would contemplate anything as small as 13".
I would advise looking for something in the range 20" to 21" for a lady of 5'7".
Offer me enough shekels and I might be persuaded to part with my 22.5"/21" Claud Butler Majestic Two. Mind though, it is double-gents - as were all Majestic Twos IIRC.
Thank you for the offer My wife is very happy with the smaller frame size, although not ideal for most it makes it easier for her to get on and off, she suffers from joint problems and would not manage with anything much bigger. A few tweaks and it will be spot on. It will enable us to cycle around when we go away in our caravan.
Clipper_2018 wrote:I'm 5' 6" and my preferred frame size is 22" ± ½" (56cm ± 1cm). That's probably a bit larger than most people of my height would choose but foot size is a factor ... and mine are large for my height.
There's no way I would contemplate anything as small as 13".
I would advise looking for something in the range 20" to 21" for a lady of 5'7".
Offer me enough shekels and I might be persuaded to part with my 22.5"/21" Claud Butler Majestic Two. Mind though, it is double-gents - as were all Majestic Twos IIRC.
Whilst probably true as a generalisation, it does of course depend on the design of the tandem. The rear of my tandem is fine for adults - I'm OK at 5"7" (although I seldom ride on the back) - but the rear seat tube comes in at a little under 11" (centre to top, a couple of inches less to the centre of the top tube). It also fits small children from about 3 or 4. Its main "trick is to have the rear bottom bracket behind the seat tube at a very shallow angle so the effective length increases more as the saddle height goes up (plus a very long telescopic seat post).
For parts, look on the sjs site (https://www.sjscycles.co.uk) - they are Thorn tandems too, and sell tandem specific parts (like stoker stems) which might help fettle the bike for you.
