Archive-URL: http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=tandem.10512.0069.eml Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 12:07:42 -0800 (PST) From: Mark Livingood <mark(AT)werlivingood.com> Subject: [T(AT)H] Sunday Reader: A look back at tandems in 1994 For those who monitor the list on the weekends, a trip back in time.... >From the archives: http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=tandem.9408.0473.eml Dateline: Aug '94 EUGENE, Ore - In the Co-Motion Cycles shop, Dan Vrijmoet runs his hand lightly over the brushed titanium frame of one of the 200 tandem bicycles he and his two partners will craft by hand this year. Across town at Burley Design Cooperative, scores of newly welded and powder-coated steel tandem frames hang from racks, waiting to be joined with shifters, brakes and wheels for shipment to thousands of customers. The high-performance '90s version of the bicycle built for two immortalized by Harry Dacre's 1893 song "Daisy Bell" makes up a tiny fraction of the millions of cycles sold in the United States each year. But the big rigs of the bike biz, produced by manufacturers large and small, are on a steady climb, particularly among couples. "The first time we got on a tandem we loved it," said Scott Campbell, a lawyer from Oskaloosa, Iowa, who races tandems with his wife, Kym Life, a physician. "Usually, it's hard to find a stoker (the rider in back) unless you're married," said Life. "The best part is we can go really fast on it." Tandems, which can go 35 miles per hour on a flat stretch, overcome the problem many couples face on separate bikes when one rider is faster than the other. Nobody knows how many tandems are produced each year. Privately held manufacturers jealously guard their sales figures. Jack Goertz, editor of Doubletalk, the Tandem Club of America newsletter, estimates sales of quality tandems at 7,000 to 10,000 a year, compared to 13 million single bikes sold in 1993. That's up from 5,000 tandems sold in 1990, as estimated by Bicycling magazine. "I've got a gut feeling there are 170,000 to 250,000 tandems actually owned in the United States," Goertz said. They include tandem road bikes, tandem mountain bikes, tandem recumbent bikes and tandem cross bikes. There's even a folding tandem made by Montague that fits in the trunk of a car. Tandems first appeared in the 1860s and were popular at the turn of the century. Goertz pegs the start of the tandem renaissance at 1976. That's the year that Los Angeles area bike shop owner Bill McCready decided that if he wanted a good tandem, he would have to build it himself, and started Santana Cycles of La Verne. "Tandems for bicycle manufacturers were kind of like unicycles," according to McCready. "They said, 'We can build them in our factory, but they're kind of silly.' We looked at it, and said, 'There is a market here for serious tandems.' " By 1986, Cannondale, one of the big bike makers, had jumped in. Burley broke in a year later, branching out from its bike trailer and rain gear business. In 1988, Co-Motion started, concentrating on the high end custom-built side. Trek, another of the big U.S. bike companies, followed in 1991. As the numbers increased, prices dropped. "It used to be $2,500 to $3,000 is what you had to spend to get a bike you could have faith in," said Geoff Drake, editor of Bicycling. "Now we are seeing excellent bikes for around $1,000. Outfits that specialize in tandems, such as Burley and Santana, are still the big fish in this small pond, though how big is a popular guessing game. McCready figures Santana has the biggest sales by dollars, with 12 models ranging in price from $2,400 to $7,000. But Rob Templin of Burley figures they are the top producers in numbers, with six models ranging in price from $900 to a little more than $2,000. "It's definitely increasing, but it's not an explosive type of thing," Templin said. There's also room for an outfit like Co-Motion, which expects to double production this year to 200 tandems, ranging in price from $2,500 to more than $8,000 for the titanium frame. "One thing that's happened in the last few years is that more manufacturers have come into the business," said Butch Boucher, a partner in Co-Motion. "It's become very competitive." A lot of tandem riders are like Campbell and Life, married professionals in love with their sport. "It's hard to explain," Campbell said. "It's something special riding a tandem. It's a lot more fun than being on two single bikes." ------------------------------ An update on production numbers, circa 2001, as contained in an article on Co-Motion cycles that appeared in the Sunday Oregonian in April 2001 and that is linked of off Co-Motion's Website: http://tinyurl.com/9twc3 "Co-Motion said it makes about 800 tandems and 200 single bikes a year. Burley, which also makes recumbent bikes, rainwear, and trailers for hauling kids or gear, said it produces 1,300 to 1,400 tandems a year. Green Gear said it makes about 260 tandems a year. Santana, which exclusively makes tandems, would not release its figures." ------------------------------ Regards, Mark Livingood Near Gloomy Atlanta, GA (USA) http://www.TheTandemLink.com P.S. It's not too late to snag some tandem decals as "stocking stuffers" for your tandem friends: http://www.thetandemlink.com/Decals/Decalinfo.html