Poorman's Calfee Tandem at 2000 Miles
We just crossed 2000 miles on the Calfee and here's the latest report. It's the main steed on our cross country tour from San Diego to St. Augustine, FL. You can read all about that trip here. Overall the bike has been performing well. Things that we like so far are:The light weight. Even with day packs on the frame it weighs substantially less than our
Davidson.
The Di2 shifting with dual chainrings. When you can't see what chainring and cog you're in, it really helps to either go one step up or down and have the shifter figure out when to change chainrings. I do need to dig into the firmware and adjust the downshift from large to small chainring to reduce the step size. The 34-52 chainrings coupled with 11-40 cassette provides a larger range than our Davidson's triple chainring and more steps in between lowest and highest gear.
The Ride Comfort: The frame geometry and carbon fiber material contribute to a comfortable structure that damps out road vibration. The lack of a direct lateral tube improves compliance in the up/down direction while the large tube diameter reduces the side to side flexing that complicates steering. A springy seat-post softens the ride for the stoker.
The S-S couplers: For our cross-country ride, we were able to pack the tandem in its shipping box, which then fit sideways in the back of our pickup truck. There are several critical steps that need to be done, mainly to do with the handlebars, timing belt, and shifter wire, but overall it's a quick transition that takes an hour or so. Two couplers, instead of four, saves weight and cost and still allows a compact teardown.
Carbon Fiber belt: The belt has performed flawlessly and has not needed tension adjustment after the first setup. It's quiet and clean - I can rub my leg against it and not get covered with black "tattoos".
The disk brakes: They're powerful and eliminate the rim heating from conventional brakes. The weight is substantially less than a drum brake. An annoying squeal has developed that needs to be investigated, though.
The Wheels: To save cost we went with alloy wheels. The deep-V rim geometry compensates for a lower spoke count than we've used in the past (32 vs. 48), providing a lightweight, strong, and durable wheel.
The Continental Tires: With our Davidson tandem and Specialized Expedition tires, we were lucky to get 1000 miles out of a rear tire. We are now at 2000 miles on both tires and both are still going strong. We have had a few flats - two from puncture vine goatheads and one from a tiny piece of wire, presumably from a shattered truck tire. When I do need to replace them, I'll be stepping up to a Continental puncture-resistant model. But overall the tires are performing phenomenally.
The Rear Saddlebags: We got a bv rear bag that has integrated saddlebags that roll up into side pockets on the main bag. The main bag expands vertically with a zippered flap and a small compartment holds a waterproof cover to protect the contents during rainstorms. The bag has proven to be highly flexible and versatile. Its mounting scheme holds the bag securely and the clamp with single release button allows quick removal and reattachment.
Some items that aren't so flattering:
The captain's cockpit: The short reach handlebars and short stem contributed to a hand position that was just not comfortable.
Flakey things with the Di2 Shifter: For some reason, the Di2 battery goes dead when the tandem is separated and packed in its shipping box. This happened when the system arrived from the factory and also during a 2-day traverse to the beginning of our cross-country ride. Either one of the wires is shorting to the frame or one of the shift levers is being pushed into an always-on position when the handlebars are strapped to the frame.
We did have an interesting almost-disaster with the shifters. We were cranking really hard at the end of a long day in the highest gear when the chain just jumped off of the chainring and freewheel. After putting the chain back on, the shift lever wouldn't adjust the rear derailler position. The front shifter worked though. After pondering the problem, I was able to manually move the rear derailler back to the largest cog on the rear, and then the rear shifter woke up. For some reason, the Di2 unit thought that it was in the largest cog when it really was on the smallest one. Fortunately it was an easy fix.
The front brake-hose "braze-ons": The furthest forward pair of clamps that hold the rear brake hydraulic hose seem to be reversed.
The hose is continually popping out of the two clamps. The problem is that the hose goes down at the handlebars, but the front clamp faces down. It would work a lot better if the front clamp faced up and the rear clamp faced down.
Headset: The headset is sturdy and durable. But we have had to tighten it a couple of times as slop seemed to develop with usage.
The Handlebar Bag Mount: The long-reach handlebars I found have a 26mm center diameter, but the stem is 31mm. I had to use spacers to hold the handlebars securely. The handlebar bag mount was also 31mm and it doesn't seem to clamp on the spacers securely. I was able to jam a screw into the gap between the two spacers, but it's not a permanent fix.
Summary:
Overall we've been really happy with the new Calfee after the first 2000 miles. The light weight, modern components, and frame comfort are huge improvements over our 30-year old Davidson. And it sure is pretty! The few negative issues are minor and I'm working on fixes for most of those.
