The Annual Tandem Cyclists Survey (Winter 2010, Part Deux)
www.thetandemlink.com


Ok, it's been a really long and somewhat more wintery-winter this year in most parts of North America.

While my 2010 Survey was interesting as always, it wasn't really FUN. So, here's a bonus survey that looks at what we ride: tandem stuff. You know, what do you ride, what kind of computer (if any) do you use, do you buy into (literally) the high-tech cycle racing stuff or is it all a bunch of hooey.

You will find two different types of questions below; the first nine (9) allow multiple responses and the last is a write-in / open-ended response field. Please be sure to read each question carefully.

Please Note: This is a blind survey in that it does not ask you for any personal information that can be used to identify you with your responses; therefore, please be candid, honest, and limit your responses to one survey per household.


1.  We own the following TYPE(S) of tandems (Select ALL that apply):

700c road tandem
26” road tandem
Semi-Recumbent tandem, e.g., Counterpoint, Viewpoint, Harmony
Recumbent road tandem
26” off-road tandem or enduro
29” off-road tandem
A Multi-Seat tandem, e.g., triplet, quad, quint
A Fat-Tire Cruiser
Other
None of the above: We rent or borrow but don't own a tandem  


2.  Our tandem’s PRIMARY FRAME MATERIAL is (Select ALL that apply):

Basic chromoly steel
Lightweight alloy steel
Aluminum
Scandium-Aluminum
Titanium
Composite / Carbon
Magnesium
Bamboo
Some other type of exotic material
I have no idea  


3.  Our tandem’s SHIFTING duties are handled by (Select ALL that apply):

Bar-end (aka, barcon) or down tube shifters
Shimano Total Integration (STI) shifters
SACHs Ergo shifters
Campagnolo Ergo shifters
SRAM DoubleTap shifters
Shimano Dura Ace Di2 Electronic shifting
SRAM Grip Shifters or similar
Thumb Shifters, RapidFire trigger, or similar
Rohloff Speedhub or Nexus type internally gear hubs
None of the above, e.g., single speed  


4.  Our tandem’s PRIMARY BRAKING duties are handled by (Select ALL that apply):

Rear COASTER brake (with or without front hand brake)
Center-pull brakes, e.g., Weinman brakes
CANTILEVER rim brakes (conventional)
Linear-pull brakes, aka V-BRAKES
HYDRAULIC RIM brakes
Single or Dual Pivot CALIPER rim brakes
HYBRID: Front = Rim, Rear = Disc
Dual (front & rear) MECHANICAL DISC brakes
Dual (front & rear) HYDRAULIC DISC brakes
None of the above  


5.  With regard to SUPPLEMENTAL BRAKING (aka, drag brake) duties we have (Select ALL that apply):

No need for a supplemental / drag brake on our tandem
An Arai drum brake but never used it / took it off / sold it
An Arai drum brake but rarely use it
An Arai drum brake on the bike and routinely use it
A rear disc + rim brake but never used it / took it off / sold it
A rear disc + rim brake but rarely use it
A rear disc + rim brake on the bike and routinely use it
A rear disc but no rear rim brake instead of an Arai w/rim brake
A rear disc but no rear rim brake and should have gotten the Arai
None of the above  


6.  With regard to RACING TECHNOLOGY we have (Select ALL that apply):

Note: Exotic frame materials include composites, titanium, magnesium, boron matrix, TT S3 /OX-Plantium, ACMUltra7, etc..

No need for it
A carbon fork
Exotic frame material
Hand-picked, very lightweight components
Gates Carbon-Drive / Belt Drive
Integrated, low-spoke count racing wheels, e.g., Rolfs, Sweet 16s
No-kidding Aero wheels, e.g., Zipp 808s, LEW, etc
Skin suits, booties and aero helmets for TT events
A power-tap or other watt-measuring equipment
A personal trainer / cycling coach  


7.  With regard to CYCLING COMPUTERS and GPS (Select ALL that apply):

No need for them
Captain has a computer, but stoker doesn’t
Both captain and stoker have computers
Captain or stoker have wireless computers
Captain or stoker have computers with heart rate monitors
Captain has Shimano Flight Deck & likes it
Captain has Shimano Flight Deck & doesn’t like it
Captain Ergo Brain & likes it
Captain Ergo Brain & doesn’t like it
Captain or stoker have GPS  


8.  DROP BAR SHIFTING UPGRADES we’ve made and how we liked them, to include moving to a newer tandem (Select ALL that apply):

Never had a reason to switch from bar-ends or downtube
Never tried STI, Ergo or DoubleTap but don’t like it
Tried Shimano STI and like it
Tried Shimano STI and don’t like it
Tried Campagnolo Ergo and like it
Tried Campagnolo Ergo and don’t like it
Tried SRAM DoubleTap and like it
Tried SRAM DoubleTap and don’t like it
Would like to upgrade but can’t justify the expense
I’d really, really like to get Shimano Dura Ace Di2  


9.  Hey, what about us OFF-ROAD TANDEM enthusiasts…. (Select ALL that apply):

Who in their right mind would ride a tandem off-road?
We own and ride aWe own and ride a rigid off-road / enduro tandemfront-suspended tandem
We own and ride a front-suspended tandem
We own and ride a full-suspension tandem
We do fire-roads and dirt roads, but that’s it
We live for single-track and gnarly terrain
We have raced our off-road tandem in sanctioned events
We would like to race our off-road tandem in sanctioned events
We have attended an off-road tandem rally
We would like to attend and off-road tandem rally  


10.  Just get it off your chest… What have you not been asked that your dying to know more about? Or, what is it you’d like everyone to know, bearing in mind this is the family channel: nothing lewd, lascivious, vulgar or profane please.

Note: You are limited to 1000 characters (not words). The system will let you type forever, but only the first 1,000 characters will be saved. And DON'T HIT RETURN or TAB while entering text; some computers will communicate that as 'SUBMIT' and if you weren't done typing, cest la vie.

 



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