It was Dorothee who introduced me to tandeming. She had bought the bike, a stock Santana Visa, in 1995, and when she was looking for someone to ride it with two years later, I volunteered happily. I had never ridden a tandem for more than a mile before that day, but I was hooked immediately.

We have made a few changes to the bike since: We exchanged the seats for our favorites, Selle Italia Flite and swapped the touring-oriented tires for 622x25mm Continental Grand Prix. We also added a suspension seat post for the stoker. Most importantly, however, I put on a Suntour Command shifter to activate the Arai drum brake. The most recent addition is a pair of Tranz-X handlebar extensions (like the 3t Tiramisu on my road single) for a more aero position on long rides.

The bike now handles more like a racer. The twisty descents at the road race in Gippingen did show me that Santana's steady handling characteristics leave something to be desired in a race situation. There may be some advantages to Santana's steering geometry for beginners and touring-oriented teams. However, I would prefer a Glenn Erickson or Co-Motion tandem for my riding style.

Recently, I have been able to find a pair of Shimano RSX STI-levers (the bike has a 7-speed hub) which I put on the bike. This forced me to try new solutions for the braking department, as the low-profile Shimano Deore LX-cantis only work with the canti-specific Dia-Compe 287-levers previously on the bike. I used cut-down LX-V-brakes, and the result was pretty good. They do not offer a lot of clearance, though; certainly not enough for fenders. See my special page on brakes for bikes with drop bars for more on this issue.

Like almost all tandems, this one, too, is quite a bit too short. However, I just love tandeming, so I love this bike!