Nico and Smile’s Bikepacking Tandem

Double Trouble…

After spending the better part of a decade building tandems I was pretty over them as a bike genre. But after a brief hiatus and the wild wish-list I got from Nico and Smiles I was happy to descend back into tandemonium.

Finding butted tubes for tandems can be tricky, but thanks to the S&S travel couplers on the frame I was able to use two Reynolds 853 “down tubes“ for a top tube. The rest of the frame is also Reynolds, save for the custom-bent 4130 stays at the rear. Those stays and a 86mm T47 BB shell allowed for clearing a 29x2.6” tire, along with a chain and belt ring on either side. The team wanted a stoker brake, so I used both a (200mm!) flat mount on the chainstay and a post mount insert for two brakes on the same rotor. Thankfully Hope makes a 2.3mm thick rotor that’s perfect for standing up to the additional braking forces.

Finding decent tandem cranksets can also be tricky, so we used a family-heirloom set of Cook Bros tandem cranks mated to my T47 square taper bottom bracket. Custom spindle lengths helped dial in the Q-factor and chain/belt lines. The chain/belt rings are held in place with custom spiders to adapt the vintage mounting pattern to a modern 104mm BCD. A custom titanium stoker stem puts the second set of bars in just the right spot and gives a bit of passive suspension.