Tandem build - half a rant, half questions

[Gothard]

Edit - whoops, posted in the wrong section. Can a Mod migrate it? thanks.

As some may have seen in the gallery, our tandem frame has arrived. Now to build it.

Rant - hubs: with a combined weight of 320 lbs *without* the bike, I am leaning towards 40 spoke wheels with Velocity Dyad rims. I would have wanted Chris King hubs (I am vain), so shot an email to them. No hubs over 32 holes…

Rant - brakes: The frame is setup with post mount. I can not find Sram nor Shimano groupsets with anything else than flat mount. The ever changing std gets old really quick…

Question - Hubs: besides the White Industries and the boat Anchor Phils, any other good alternative, in 12X142, disc and 40 spoke drilling?

Question - brakes: Can I mix and match, for instance Sram eTap with shimano calipers?

Question - brakes: I see adapters from flat to post mount but not the other way around?

[jtakeda]

Question 3:

Maybe these? www.assolutions.ca

[Gothard]

OK, got it wrong, but not there yet. My mounts:

[jtakeda]

I’d print out the thing on that Canadian website and see if the IS to flatmount adapter will work

[smead]

A few years ago had a tandem wheelset built around 36 hole dyads and 14/15 spokes 3 cross. These are stout wheels. Those are beefy rims, I would think 36 spokes will do fine for you, and hopefully open up more hub options.

[ColonelJLloyd]

Rims have come a long way since the Dyad was released. I'd say there are lots of better options out there even for a tandem. I'd go with a modern tubeless design and wide rubber. Carbon MTB rims would seem to make sense here.

You cannot mix SRAM and Shimano hydraulic levers and calipers, no.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by smead

and hopefully open up more hub options.

moved it for you.

on the hub topic, i think i'd want to make sure with any hub mfg, especially road racing hubs like the R45's that they are OK with that kind of weight. for a 350# machine, you want pretty stout axles and such.

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by Gothard

Edit - whoops, posted in the wrong section. Can a Mod migrate it? thanks.

As some may have seen in the gallery, our tandem frame has arrived. Now to build it.

Rant - hubs: with a combined weight of 320 lbs *without* the bike, I am leaning towards 40 spoke wheels with Velocity Dyad rims. I would have wanted Chris King hubs (I am vain), so shot an email to them. No hubs over 32 holes…

Rant - brakes: The frame is setup with post mount. I can not find Sram nor Shimano groupsets with anything else than flat mount. The ever changing std gets old really quick…

Question - Hubs: besides the White Industries and the boat Anchor Phils, any other good alternative, in 12X142, disc and 40 spoke drilling?

Question - brakes: Can I mix and match, for instance Sram eTap with shimano calipers?

Question - brakes: I see adapters from flat to post mount but not the other way around?

Actually, the ever-changing has stopped changing. The road world has settled on flat mount. Did you request post? it seems odd to me they built it with post given that flat has been here for almost two years now. or maybe its because flat mounts cant handle the rotor size needed for tandems?

Question - Hubs: besides the White Industries and the boat Anchor Phils, any other good alternative, in 12X142, disc and 40 spoke drilling?
>> Many folks prefer WI over CK. I think 40h is overkill unless you are planning to have it fully loaded touring. 36h will be fine. We are 290#s with 32h CK on our full-suspension tandem and no issues. Steel drive shell.

Question - brakes: Can I mix and match, for instance Sram eTap with shimano calipers?
>> no - you have to stay with the same mfg

Question - brakes: I see adapters from flat to post mount but not the other way around?
>> I didn't think these existed BUT I think the issue is you will want a 203 front / 180 rear and finding an adapter will be harder

Beautiful frame - the last one! I hope it gives you both plenty of memories

One thing you could do is speak to someone at co-motion to get some insight on wheels and brakes
https://co-motion.com/pages/contact-us

[hokoman]

Rant - brakes: The frame is setup with post mount. I can not find Sram nor Shimano groupsets with anything else than flat mount. The ever changing std gets old really quick…

There are a lot of NOS post mount caliper brakes around, you'll need to mix and match, but it makes sense for the oversized rotors you are going to run on that bike.

Sweet tandem.

[GregL]

Originally Posted by Gothard

Rant - hubs: with a combined weight of 320 lbs *without* the bike, I am leaning towards 40 spoke wheels with Velocity Dyad rims. I would have wanted Chris King hubs (I am vain), so shot an email to them. No hubs over 32 holes…

My wife and I easily combine to 330-340 lbs. when kitted up for our tandem. Our everyday wheelset uses 40 spokes front/rear. They provide great reliability and peace of mind. Besides the aforementioned White Industries, Phil Wood, and Chris King, other hub brands to look at include DT Swiss and NOS Shimano. Another option is the Rolf pre-built tandem wheels. We have a set of the aluminum rim models that have held up perfectly as our race/fast century wheels. They are remarkably light for their intended purpose and have never required trueing.

Greg

[marciero]

As far as rims go, Velocity Aileron would both be great choice if you are considering alloy. Low weight, 21mm internal width, tubeless design, available in 36 and 40 hole drillings. We have a set of 36 hole 650b on a tandem that have stood up heavy use, including loaded touring, on all kinds of terrain. I am sure that 36 hole would be plenty even for the 700c version, esp. in light of the 28mm depth.
The cliffhangers would also be a good choice if you want wider, but are heavier

[unterhausen]

that's an ISO brake mount. Needs a post mount adapter. As others have said though, don't think you want flat mount brakes. But I thought that Shimano had post mount brakes that were compatible with their road setups?

[bikinchris]

Phil tandem hubs. Unless you are racing, overbuild the wheels. Dyad rims 40 hole cross 4. Personally, I would even consider 48 hole rear. But I don't ever want to true my wheels.
No, you can't mix SRAM brake parts with Shimano. SRAM uses DOT fluid and Shimano uses mineral oil. The soft parts and seals for one don't like the other.

[GregL]

Originally Posted by bikinchris

Phil tandem hubs. Unless you are racing, overbuild the wheels. Dyad rims 40 hole cross 4. Personally, I would even consider 48 hole rear. But I don't ever want to true my wheels.

Second the recommendation for 40 hole rims on your “everyday” tandem wheels. My wife and I rode our tandem on the local cycling club’s Wednesday night ride earlier this evening. On a flat to rolling course, we spent a lot of time on the pointy end of the fast group. We hit several bad potholes at speed, but our wheels didn’t suffer any ill effects. I was happily surprised to NOT get any pinch flats too.

Greg

[Gothard]

Thank you for the advice, one an all. I (finally) had some time to browse the web. It seems that for my needs/wants/budget, I will go with White Industries hubs in 40 drilling, and alloy rims.

Any tubeless, proven alternative to the Velocity rims? We'll be up to 400 lbs when loaded, and ride the Alps, with long rough descents.

Tire-wise I really want to use Compass (Herse) models, but I am not sure they'll stand up to tandem weight. Panaracer and Schwalbe have some very strong tires. Any other ideas?

I think I will manage the braking with a Shimano setup, who still sell post mount calipers separately.