<>John Thompson wrote: <snip> I have an "Atom" freewheel on my tandem (a *REAL* tandem freewheel, with 4 pawls instead of two!) that uses the same tool. After 20 years of use, the tool still works as well as when new, although I did have to ream it out a little to accommodate the 12mm axle on the tandem hub. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ There were also Suntour Perfect Tandem FW, generally marked with a heavily stamped "T" on the outer cone/removal ring. Back about '74, Susan and I had shattered two of the conventional Suntour FW on our tandem, and I sent them a letter with the two, and a note suggesting that I was puzzled by the failures at the feet of us tourists, and had become reluctant to recommend them to my racer friends. Actually, after shattering pawls on a couple, I had substituted Regina pawls, slightly ground to fit. Next stop: shattered body, pawls intact. As I recall things, Suntour sent me two of the tandem models. These still had two pawls, but they were much bigger. The other solution was the one marketed by Santana for years: out of phase cranks limited the impulse to the FW. Once mountain bikes gave us great FW, Santana seems to have backed away from his enthusiasm about out-of-phase. Great marketing: finding a solution to something that should not have been a problem.
harvey sachs
mcLean va