[CR]re: atala tandem

(Example: Framebuilders:Norman Taylor)

From: "C. Andrews" <chasds@mindspring.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 08:46:51 -0700
Subject: [CR]re: atala tandem

Lenny wrote:

Not the seller:

http://ebay.com/<blah>

In lime green no less. Now I've seen everything.

******

This might be nice for casual cruising, but that'd be about it. These italian tandems are essentially built like single bikes for two people. This mixte version is probably even more flexy than the Gitanes of the same period (although the boob tube on the Atala is probably wider in diameter, which helps)...

The best vintage tandems are the top-line french and english tandems that are built to withstand the real-world stresses of two riders. I have a Pogliaghi tandem from the late 60s and a Jack Taylor OS tube fillet-brazed tandem from the early 80s, and the Taylor is a FAR better tandem in every way. That said, the Pogliaghi is quite sporty (the short stoker section helps) and fun to ride now and then... it's just heavier, flexier, and less-comfortable to ride than the Taylor.

As Jan Heine has pointed out, and as I discovered just this weekend...on older italian tandems, the geometry is such that if the stoker so much as scratches an itch, the captain is gonna be dealing with keeping the bike upright, esp. at speed. On the Taylor, this never happens.

Just a thought or two for those considering purchase... for easy, casual riding, that Atala would be cool. But for fast, long rides? Not too good.

Charles Andrews SoCal

"What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are."

- Epictitus