Conference noted::bicycle

    For what purpose are you buying it, comfort or reach?
    
    Another option could be:
    
    o Adjustable stoker stem.  
    o VSA saddle (with rubber dampers attached to the seat rails.
    
    steve

    Both comfort and reach.

    I'm 6'2" tall, and even though the Rodriquez is the longest tandem you
    can buy without going custom, it's a bit short for me.

    We've got the adjustable stem, but I want to be farther back from the
    pedals.  Compared to my single road bike, my tandem seat is forward
    more in relation to the bottom bracket, and on the tandem I find myself
    trying to scoot backwards a lot.

    There is a little gadget you can buy that fits between a regular seatpost
    and the saddle itself, which allows you to move the saddle farther
    forward or backward.  We're going to try that first.

    Comfort is the other factor.  I don't get up out of the saddle nearly
    as often on the tandem as I do on the single bike, so circulation is
    a bigger issue.

    I was really curious if anyone has ridden the Aelsop, and if you feel
    like you're bouncing along on it.

    - Diane

    
    Ed Pavelka did a product test of the Allsop seat-suspension system
    a couple months ago in Bicycling magazine.  He gives it a mixed
    review (great hugging curves, awful on washboard road surfaces, etc.).
    
    Jerry Tatray, #3 male finisher in RAAM'91 used one on that ride.
    
    As for tandems, Lon Haldeman says the Allsop system is invaluable
    for the stoker, who gets quite a harsh ride back there.  And he used
    that system on his tandem in RAAM'91.  Let me know if you'd like me
    to copy his article (from the Winter UMCA journal).
    
    -j

Pamela Blalock (pamela@keps.kodak.com) has written in the Usenet rec.bicycles
group about putting an Alsop seatpost on a tandem.  From what I recall, she was
happy with the improvement (less bumps) in the ride after she got it properly
adjusted.  It hasn't been trouble free for here though; she has had problems with
the attachment mechanism.  I don't know whether or not she is still using it.

Rich

    
    Pamela was seen by an ultra-colleague on Mt. Mitchell with her
    Alsop/tandem.  He informed her the Alsop's motion was suggestive. :-)
    
    -john

    If you go with any sort of mechanism that bring the seat back further,
    how does this affect your alignment with the pedals?  If you have
    long quads, I can see pushing the seat way back, however if not, it
    may not place you in the optimum power position.
    
    BTW: There are some real nice custom tandem makers that aren't too
    unreasonable, certainly the same or perhaps less then the Rodriguez.
    One name I looked into was Keith Lippy.
    
    steve
    

    Thanks for the replies!

    re:  .3    
    >As for tandems, Lon Haldeman says the Allsop system is invaluable
    >for the stoker, who gets quite a harsh ride back there.  And he used
    >that system on his tandem in RAAM'91.  Let me know if you'd like me
    >to copy his article (from the Winter UMCA journal).
    
    Thanks for the offer!  If it's not too much trouble, I'm sure we would
    enjoy the article.  I'm at CXO1-2/N26.

    re:  .6
    >If you go with any sort of mechanism that bring the seat back further,
    >how does this affect your alignment with the pedals?  If you have
    >long quads, I can see pushing the seat way back, however if not, it
    >may not place you in the optimum power position.

    Actually, it the alignment with the pedals that I'm trying to adjust.
    I do have long quads.


    We got the gadget from Performance that lets you move the seat back,
    and tried it out on 4th of July on our club's annual tandem ride.  What
    a difference!  It really smoothed out my pedal stroke, and made it so
    much easier to climb.

    My husband loved the differences too:  1) smoother pedal stroke,
    2) less whining on the climbs  ;-)   3) it allowed him to move my bars
    back more, with the adjustable stem, so my hands weren't planted in
    his "cheeks"!


    More tandem rides are in order, to see if we still need to go a step
    further with the Alsop.

    - Diane

 A friend of mine works in a bike shop and had Alsop install one of these seat 
post on his mountain bike (a Giant Cadex 3) he has city slicks on the bike and 
has only ridden the bike on the road with the Alsop, the bike with Alsop has 
maybe 700 miles on it. Last week he discovered where the seat post attaches to 
the front of the bike has worn a ridge into the frame. The frame is now a very 
expensive piece of trash.

Joe 

    
    
    Roche is trying the Aelsop to try and help his back next year...
    
    Graham.