Now there are many ways you can go about riding twosome. I guess it boils down the standard pre-purchase criteria we use for bicycles: Light/Cheap/Quality- choose any two. So I have been trawling the usual sites when it comes to purchasing any kind of used bicycle. That would be the highly transparent "we offer an opinion on anything" The Hub; as well as the "anything goes" Gumtree. If its new goods you're looking for, then its Chain Reaction or Chris Willemse or some other site (and the numbers of these sites are growing!).
So I stumbled across what I consider to be a true South African gem of a bike on Gumtree: A Du Toit tandem. For those of you who don't know, Francois Du Toit is a former SA cyclist and custom builds bicycles. He operates from the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town and has been in the industry for years. The bikes are hand built and made from Reynolds and Columbus tubing.
So naturally I was intrigued to find one of his mid-1990's tandems for sale. A quick drive out past the Boerewors curtain and I was looking at a dusty red Du Toit tandem that had not been used in a decade. Johan, the owner, cycled seriously in the 90's and after a few 02:40-odd Argus's decided to ease off with the cycling and move into other hobbies. The tandem had remained for years but now it was time to free up some garage space....
After a quick test ride around the block (with Ethan seated behind me) we settled on a favourable price....put it this way - you couldn't have even bought a pair of Oakley Jawbones for what I paid. (Perhaps that's just a comment on the price of Oakleys nowadays...)
So the plan is that either Ethan or Natalie join me every now and again for a rounding of the Peninsula on the aptly named "Long Dog" (2.3 metres in length). Sure it needs a good service, but everything works! Shimano 105 brakes with French made Mavic rims...but it is heavy (compared to the featherweight stuff around nowadays). I already replaced the tyres and tubes - the yellow walls of the old tyres were turning to dust when I was taking them off!
But I reckon I've scored a genuine piece of quality South African cycling craftmanship and, once fully fine tuned and tweaked up, will once again prowl the roads of the Cape. Who knows, perhaps The Moose and I will do some training on it? As the heavier rider I know that I will be able to help Moose get stronger on the climbs - I'll just ease off completely!
The Du Toit Tandem
Ethan hoses Long Dog down, removing about 3kg of dust!
The triple crank, complimented by a 8-speed cassette on the rear.
