Looking for Tandem with under seat steering

I'm interested in getting a tandem with USS. I am 6'1'' and my wife the stoker is 5'2'' mostly ride
around NJ and do short day rides 30-50 miles. I hope to test out an eliminator11 and m5. Would like
to hear from toughs you who have experience with these bikes. maybe some hits on " must have'" that
I should conceder. Like do I need a drag brake ? etc. Thanks!

"bruce" <jsp53@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<L_udnd-SjeEqp_iiXTWJhg@comcast.com>...
> I'm interested in getting a tandem with USS. I am 6'1'' and my wife the stoker is 5'2'' mostly
> ride around NJ and do short day rides 30-50 miles. I hope to test out an eliminator11 and m5.
> Would like to hear from toughs you who have experience with these bikes. maybe some hits on " must
> have'" that I should conceder. Like do I need a drag brake ? etc. Thanks!

Bruce: I have seen both of these tandems but haven't ridden any. I can say that the Longbikes
recumbents are some of the most nicely finished recumbents I have seen. Greg Peek makes a very
nicely finished product. They are heavy (all recumbent tandems are heavy) but very nicely turned
out. The M5 (which incidentally Hostelshoppe has one demo on sale now) is a loooooooong tandem.
Transportation has to be a major undertaken. The advantage that I saw was the M5 seat. Our tandem
(Barcroft Columbia) is a very comfortable tandem but shares some of the problems all tandems bring
with them. They are tough getting up hill due to their weight (and the combined weight of two
riders). I look at the M5 seat as a way to shed 6 - 8 pounds of bike weight. I also have found
that the solid platform that a carbon fiber seat provides allows all pedaling torque to go to the
pedals. None is lost by any backward movement into a giving mesh seatback. We are now
investigating substituting Barcroft's new cf seats for our standard RANS seats for that reason.
You do give up some comfort as the seat rides harsher, but I don't find it comfortable straining
up big hills either.

I presume you didn't mention the Double Vision because you weren't interested in it. At the tandem
rallies we pass Screamers all day on the ride but seldom pass a Vision. They tend to pass us. I
don't know why they are faster. They are long and flexy, but they seem to really move.

Good luck on the search.

Mike S. St. Louis, Mo.

Barcroft Virginia Barcroft Columbia RANS Rocket.

Thanks for you comments, I have not ruled out the Double Vision yet but I felt the stiff frame
design and the low stance of the Eliminator nitro would make it a better bike. I test road a
Screamer and liked it just fine. I just hoping to find some one with more tandem experience to help
me evaluate the differences between all of them. I want a fast ride but not at the expense of
stability. I heard the vision can get tricky with speed and bumps in the picture. The Eliminator is
about 5 pounds heaver but I don't know if that will really slow it down much here in flat nj. I'm
looking for a test ride to help work out some of these questions.

"mike s" <mbstern@primary.net> wrote in message
news:810f19dc.0309150444.579a84dd@posting.google.com...
> "bruce" <jsp53@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:<L_udnd-SjeEqp_iiXTWJhg@comcast.com>...
> > I'm interested in getting a tandem with USS. I am 6'1'' and my wife the stoker is 5'2'' mostly
> > ride around NJ and do short day rides 30-50 miles. I hope to test
out
> > an eliminator11 and m5. Would like to hear from toughs you who have experience with these bikes.
> > maybe some hits on " must have'" that I
should
> > conceder. Like do I need a drag brake ? etc. Thanks!
>
> Bruce: I have seen both of these tandems but haven't ridden any. I can say that the Longbikes
> recumbents are some of the most nicely finished recumbents I have seen. Greg Peek makes a very
> nicely finished product. They are heavy (all recumbent tandems are heavy) but very nicely turned
> out. The M5 (which incidentally Hostelshoppe has one demo on sale now) is a loooooooong tandem.
> Transportation has to be a major undertaken. The advantage that I saw was the M5 seat. Our tandem
> (Barcroft Columbia) is a very comfortable tandem but shares some of the problems all tandems bring
> with them. They are tough getting up hill due to their weight (and the combined weight of two
> riders). I look at the M5 seat as a way to shed 6 - 8 pounds of bike weight. I also have found
> that the solid platform that a carbon fiber seat provides allows all pedaling torque to go to the
> pedals. None is lost by any backward movement into a giving mesh seatback. We are now
> investigating substituting Barcroft's new cf seats for our standard RANS seats for that reason.
> You do give up some comfort as the seat rides harsher, but I don't find it comfortable straining
> up big hills either.
>
> I presume you didn't mention the Double Vision because you weren't interested in it. At the tandem
> rallies we pass Screamers all day on the ride but seldom pass a Vision. They tend to pass us. I
> don't know why they are faster. They are long and flexy, but they seem to really move.
>
> Good luck on the search.
>
> Mike S. St. Louis, Mo.
>
> Barcroft Virginia Barcroft Columbia RANS Rocket.