My daughter went with me to buy this Gitane tandem a month ago. When she first tried sitting on the stoker seat the bike seemed much too big for her. The seat was pushed down as far as I thought it could go, but her feet couldn't reach the pedals at the bottom of each stroke. I figured it would take a year before she could ride it safely, but yesterday I backed the bike out of the garage and, with my trusty 12mm socket in hand, set out to make certain that her seat was indeed at its lowest point.
Turns out there was another inch of seat post hidden under the lip of the seat that I didn't see before. Who woulda thunk? Could this extra inch plus a month of growing be enough to get my 10-year-old and me out on the bike together?
Sure enough! She has to point her toes down on the bottom of the pedal strokes, but they're staying on the pedals! We had a terrific 20 minute ride on the streets around my neighborhood and can't wait for next weekend to do it again. It was wonderful to ride with her. We could talk without yelling and carry on a conversation while outside in the sunshine getting exercise.
I saw a Santana Sovereign on our local CraigsList today that made me drool. The seller is only asking $795 for it and it's in superb shape with only a few minor scratches. I'll betcha he'll let it go for $650! Even comes with three new spare tires. The size for the front and rear are roughly the same as my Gitane, but really...who needs TWO tandems? I'm asking this to the wrong audience, aren't I? That's what I was afraid of. :)
Until next time...
