hentyw

What's happened to the three passes funride in 2012?

I recently moved from a Ravo tandem frame (and whatever fork it comes with) to a Matrix frame and fork. My stoker has ridden a Cannondale (as a stoker) a few years ago. We've taken the full parts kit from the Ravo over to the Matrix except for the brakes, so I can give a fairly accurate comparison. the Matrix frame is large-m/large (front-back). The Ravo was a large-small. The extra space on the back was the main reason we moved to the Matrix. *** The Good: Weight - the Matrix frame shaved 2.5kg off our ravo Looks - Apart from the text on the frame ("Tank" and "Matrix" don't appeal to me for some reason, although it's probably in the same cheesy league as "Ravo"), it's a nice looking frame. *** The Bad: Flex - the matrix is definitely more flexy that the ravo. It's not terrible though. My stoker reckons it's still better than the cannondale he used. I suspect that the flex of a tandem frame has almost as much to do with the length of the frame than the construction of the frame. In this case the matrix is a larger frame than our ravo (the main reason we moved over). Stability/handling - the ravo felt more stable, esp when standing. I think the very straight forks on the matrix might contribute to this. Very tight wheel clearance - We have a 28 rear tyre and we had to file our front dérailleur clamp away to fit it in. It only juuuuust fits. No option for cantilever brakes. Matrix has caliper only. Fine if you're light (we're a combined 140kg and braking is ok), but cantilevers are better. Because we're stuck with caliper breaks we also have to deflate the rear tyre every time we need to refit the rear wheel. With the Ravo's cantilevers this wasn't an issue. Std width rear hub - the rear-stay spacing for the rear hub is standard width, rather than the wider tandem width. This could be viewed as a bonus if you don't already have a tandem rear hub, but I do think the extra rear axle length leads to improved stability and handling.

I'm trying to put together an all-tandem team to do a (well-) under 6 hour DC. I currently have 6 riders who have done a 6h or faster DC on singles. I'm looking for another 3 fast tandems, preferably from Cape Town, but not essential. If you're interested let me know on this thread or PM me. On that note - anyone have contact details for Peter Barber, Chris King & Uwe Schmidt?

LadiesMile-LeadTandems.jpg 2008-03-09 6:51:26am Lead Tandems going under Ladies Mile bridge on M3. Includes David Garret, Chris Botha - Daikin (blue/pink, left); Peter Barber, Karl Lambrecht (white/blue, back left); Gary Marescia, Tim Carter (white, back right) Taken by: Renee Waker LadiesMile-LeadTandems-BoysInBlue.jpg 2008-03-09 6:51:27am Lead Tandems going under Ladies Mile bridge on M3. Taken by: Renee Waker LadiesMile-SecondTandems-small.jpg 2008-03-09 6:51:51am The second tandem bunch that got dropped by the lead tandems on Edinburgh Drive. They're 24 seconds behind at this stage, but chasing hard. Apparently they caught the leaders just before Smits. Taken by: Renee Waker LadiesMile-ThirdTandems-small.jpg 2008-03-09 6:52:25am The third tandem bunch. How's that for an aero position! At this stage we (poster & stoker, Henty & Roger) were half way up Edinburgh Drive - see below for details. Taken by: Renee Waker EdinburghDrive-SoloTandem.jpg 2008-03-09 6:52:06am Edinburgh Drive. Henty Waker & Roger Graham already close to 5 minutes back on lead tandems due to chain getting very stuck between cassette and spokes @ top of hospital bend & then again at UCT. We never used our lowest gear (23 teeth) after that for fear it might happen again. Apparently A group was just starting Edinburgh drive as we were topping it. Taken by: Pieter Waker. LadiesMile-FourthTandems-small.jpg 2008-03-09 6:53:50am The fourth tandem bunch. Taken by: Renee Waker LadiesMile-FifthTandems-small.jpg 2008-03-09 6:54:41am The fifth tandem bunch. Quite a few mixed tandems judging by stoker size. Taken by: Renee Waker LadiesMile-SoloTandem-small.jpg 2008-03-09 6:55:49am By this stage we were not quite the last tandem and had picked up quite a tail which grew longer until the little hill at the start of Muizenberg when the tail was shed. After that it was a case of chasing and dropping tandems. What we didn't realise was that A group was right behind us the whole way. They finally caught us at the top of Smits which was rather unfortunate as we could have been a lot faster down to Scarborough but couldn't get to the front. We sat at the back (except for 1 brief excursion) till the base of Chappies where the bunch exploded and we could make progress again. After that it was a case of towing an every-growing remanents-of-A bunch (with a few tandems) all the way to Green Point. Our time: 2:49 - a bit over 10 minutes slower than the lead tandems. Taken by: Renee Waker (who was so relieved to see her husband alive that she forgot to take a close-up photo).

I thought the marshalling was pretty good - at least it was when the subvets came past. They had at least one marshall at every intersection and at every potential trouble spot (like the *very* rough naval base road). I know that some found the marshalls' whistles a tad irritating but I thought they were quite an effective "someting-up-ahead" warning. My main complaint is that the lifestyle center car park was a bit cramped for the end venue. If 1800 cyclists + friends/family had actually pitched up, there is no way there would have been enough space. BTW - did anyone notice a jazz band? Perhaps I just left before they started.