For sale is our Thorn Voyager Childback Tandem that we bought from this forum less than 6 months ago. My wife and I bought this to see whether we liked tandeming (she has short legs and wasn't so confident stepping over the cross bar) - we decided that we do like it. Browsing the for sale section on the CTC forum has left me with a hole in my bank account (as well as a shiny Rohloff equipped Thorn Raven Adventure tandem
, hence this one is for sale. It had been our plan to keep this for a bit longer which explains why we spent some money on the upgrades described. Some of the parts came from an old mountain bike of mine that the frame failed on.
The frame is a steel frame with sizes of 15.5" and 12" front and rear. I am 6'2" and can still ride this with a long seat post and stem (photos show it with saddle height appropriate to me). I will provide a shorter stem and seat post with the bike if required (original ones when I bought). I guess that it would be suitable for quite a young child but I don't know how long legs different age children have! Whilst the frame isn't as stiff as our new Thorn Raven Adventure we have done overnight camping cyle tours on this and it copes admirable well with the extra weight.
The bike has a XTR v-brake (parallel linkage) on the front and an XT (no parallel linkage) on the back, both these brakes came from the mountain bike and upgraded the radius brakes that were on there, as a result the bike actually stops! If I were to be keeping the bike I would add
v-brake boosters since the flex in the bosses is now the limiting factor in stopping.
The drive train has a 9 speed XT casette and XT derailleur, with LX rapid fire levers (upgraded from awful gripshift 8 speed). There is still the original triple on the stokers chainset and the original front mech (Suntour X1). I have added a continuous outer with Blackburn cable oilers to the rear mech - this gives smooth gear changes that do not jump, however I have had to use some cable ties to secure the cable to the frame but I think this is worth it. The pilot cranks are 175mm and the stoker cranks are drilled at 140 and 100mm - on the (rear) drivetrain side the thread is slightly damaged on the 140mm hole and it requires a lot of care to get the pedal to go in straight. The middle chain ring has started to show some signs of chain suck and could do with replacing.
The bike currently has 26x1.75 Schwalbe Marathon tyres on it, but both of these are showing deterioration to the sidewalls, and whilst OK for a test ride really do need to be replaced. I wouldn't want to run any larger tyres with the current mudguards, 1.6 might be a bit easier when the guards get knocked in transport, I'd rather reduce the price of the bike and let you choose the tyres you want than put new tyres on that aren't what you'd choose. The front wheels is a Vuelta aero rime laced with 36 spokes onto a ?? Shimano hub. The rear wheel is a 500 mile old Shimano 145mm spaced XT tandem 40 hole tandem hub with a Rigida Sputnik rim and DT Swiss Alpine III (triple butted) spokes, this wheel is almost dish free and has the threads for an Arai drum brake (should you have one - think SJS are starting to sell a Karasawa replacement). I have the corresponding 40h tandem XT front hub that I'll include with the bike (could be persuaded to build the wheel if you cover the cost of the spokes and rim), I never did this because the front wheel is true and the hub is fine.
The bike has 3 bottle cages and a pannier rack. There are SKS Chromoplastic (2.0?) mudguards, although the rear light on the mudguard isn't connected to anything. Pedals are cheap nasty black plastic ones (I've kept our spd pedals) and the saddles are pretty nondescript.
I am asking for £600 for this - whilst I know that this is a bit more than these normally sell for I believe that it is good value given the upgrades (drive train, brakes and rear wheel) even given that there are some bits that need replacing. (middle chain ring 110PCD ~£35 from SJS, tyres £your choice). If you are buying on behalf of a Mr S. Claus then I could store the bike for a while and wouldn't mind fitting the bits that need replacing. Any queries or to come and see it please drop me a PM, I'm based just north of Sheffield.
NOW SOLD
