M/S will be perfect. We are in the same situation and we got a M/S Raleigh. Works perfect. My correct frame size is 56cm and my wife is a +-52cm. The M/S Raleigh center-to-top tube at the rear is 43cm's and it can easily be adjusted for a 52 and I think even 54 cm or more at the back. Rather go for the smaller one and adjust the seatpost height. With the larger tandems you problem becomes the top-tube length.
Titanio, where are you situated? We use 25-28C tubes on our tandem. Tyres are 700x28C Conti's. Had no trouble finding the 25-28 tubes with presta valves. You can buy some at Epic Sports in Centurion if you are in the Pretoria region. (Kenda's, seemless tubes)
This was the "before" photo of our first tandem:
After some upgrading:
The Hansom in action at the 2009 94.7
and today became the proud owners of a brand new T6000 no photo's taken yet...
Don't think you can blame it on Hi-Q, but rather on that specific branch/manager. I got a flat about a month ago and wasn't sure what caused it, Hi-Q found the cause and replaced the valve of the tyre, free of charge
You can try Solomons as well. On their website they advertise for example Bianchi's, upgraded to full Deore, 27 Spd for +-R5700. Also a Wheeler with a mixture of Acera & Deore components with the same shock as the Bianchi for R3999.95 (Also 27-speed). When they mix groupsets the rear deraileur will usually be of the better groupset.
I use SPD's on both MTB & Road. I'm using a pair of MTB shoes with solid soles, so I doubt if one will feel a big difference between this and road pedals/shoes. With SPD's your feet can twist a little bit while clipped into the pedal, not sure if this is the case with road pedals?
For me the 94.7 was more difficult than Telkom. Most of Telkom was flat, so you can save lots of energy for hekpoort then you do the hill and it is over with. With the 94.7 the climbs were spread throughout the race. Must get these legs stronger for next year:)
I assume you are talking about today's parking at the race. TOTAL DISASTER! I can't believe that they have put up a single narrow bridge to cross the jukskei, took us almost 2 hours to get from the car to the start and just made the start in time. Lots of people missed their starting times. I hope next year they make a better plan;)
