Speak to me of tandems

[RobynE]

I was looking at the CTCT photos and suddenly got lus for a tandem, so my kiddo and I can do 947, CTCT and some local gravel events. 
 

I am 166cm, she is 150cm (10 years old) and growing like a weed. I’m a M mountain bike and she’s S/M currently but rides an M Titan 650b hardtail. 
 

I would like something that I can use say Cinturato H tyres on, a 1x drivetrain with decent range, disc brakes, suspension seat posts (I use a Thudbuster on my hardtail - I’ve had back ops) and an air fork up front albeit 60 or 80mm just to soften the corrugation and bumps. I had a 26” straight steerer Fox Fit fork on my 700c hybrid bike and it worked like a charm so I’d like to do the same. 
 

Do I get “any” frame and then buy the components as I go along? 
 

What size frame will I need? 
 

How would I buy a tandem drivetrain? 
 

Do I look for something already halfway to my needs like the Avalanche Envi I saw advertised and just upgrade the bits that I know will be k*k? 
 

Any and all advice appreciated! 

[JohanDiv]

We bought this Ravo tandem here on The Hub for under R5k. Slapped on some 32mm gravel tyres and a flared handlebar and raced Around the Pot. So much fun! 

Keep your eye on the classifieds, from time to time there is nice tandems for sale at low prices. I see there is one now for R8900 here on the hub, open to offers. The size would probably also fit you guys. (M/S or M/M)

The drivetrain is like any drivetrain, nothing special. Just get something robust. We got XT rear derailleur and 105 front derailleur with 105 sti's and mechanical disc brakes. Next upgrade would be hydraulic disc brakes because it takes some braking to slow down two people!

The previous owner replaced the fork with a cheap alu R1k gravel fork to fit the front disc brakes, and at the rear the frame has a mounting point for disc brakes.

[Shebeen]

18 minutes ago, JohanDiv said:

We bought this Ravo tandem here on The Hub for under R5k. Slapped on some 32mm gravel tyres and a flared handlebar and raced Around the Pot. So much fun! 

Keep your eye on the classifieds, from time to time there is nice tandems for sale at low prices. I see there is one now for R8900 here on the hub, open to offers. The size would probably also fit you guys. (M/S or M/M)

The drivetrain is like any drivetrain, nothing special. Just get something robust. We got XT rear derailleur and 105 front derailleur with 105 sti's and mechanical disc brakes. Next upgrade would be hydraulic disc brakes because it takes some braking to slow down two people!

The previous owner replaced the fork with a cheap alu R1k gravel fork to fit the front disc brakes, and at the rear the frame has a mounting point for disc brakes.

I see a human mud guard there. She's spotless! 

 

Cool vibes. Storing the damn thing is a bitch though