Good point, Curt. I am sure there are ways to make a good tandem with non-OS headset and non-OS tubing. But it seems easier to do it with oversized components.
For tandems in the CR timeline, the use of oversize headsets and tubing diameters is a first indicator of quality and good ride characteristics, unlike some rather difficult to manage tandems made from single-bike componentry. A test ride, especially by a captain with some tandeming experience, usually will show deficiencies rather quickly. Ask the stoker to wiggle their arms sideways, and see what happens. On a good tandem, nothing...
Didn't Santana also provide, free of charge, a steel pipe to be inserted into the steerer tube of their non-OS-headset tandems, to hold things together in case the steerer/fork crown joint failed? I remember Bill McCready (sp?) writing something to that effect a few years back on the tandem list...
Finally, what kinds of stems did Santana use with their
extra-thickwall 1" steerer tubes? (This was before Aheadsets, I
assume.) The Jack Taylors use standard 22.2 mm stems, and OS headsets
- the wall thickness of the steerer tube makes up the difference...
--
Jan Heine, Seattle
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
http://www.mindspring.com/
>Jan Heine posted-
>So a single-bike fork (non-OS headset) on a tandem
>> should be viewed with suspicion.
>
>I agree that a fork built for single bike used on a tandem is not wise but
>steerer diameter is not the only criteria to determine the fork's
>suitability for tandem use. One inch steerers have been successfully used
>for a long time but extra thick tubes are needed. Within CR timelines,
>Santana built hundreds of tandems with 1" steerers without problems. With
>that said, if I was to start building tandems again an oversized steerer
>(28.6mm) makes sense now because 1" tandem specific steerers aren't readily
>available.
>
>Curt Goodrich
>Minneapolis, MN