Our "New to us" Franken Tandem Trike

Well here is our Franken tandem Trike, as you can see it's a Mix of the older silver (Tandem Kit) and the Blue (Rover Trike with NuVinci 330 CVT Rear Hub and Efneo 3 speed drive), that's installed in the "Stroker's position Bottom Bracket". All the shifting is up front in the "Captain's position", it a bit strange as the Efneo is a trigger shifter and the NuVinci is a twist grip shifter. AngleTech, (www.cycledifferent.com) did a lot of "mods" as normally the TT Rover Tandem has 1 single "very long chain" from front to back. Ours has 2 smaller chains, 1 (right side) goes from the Efneo 3 speed drive to the NuVinci 330 CVT hub, the other goes from a Single chainwheel at the Stroker's BB to a single chainwheel at the Captain's BB. LOL, it does seem very strange to have NO derailleurs! Yes, it's heavy and ment mainly for recreational rides but it will be used for some light touring too, just very SLOW, LOL! Happy to be a "Tandem Team again"!






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Wow! Frankenbent has arrived!!!

 

Wow. That is a great beast! Heavy only makes for better fitness. I hope you and JoLynn get many years of enjoyment out of this tandem. I noticed the the stroker handle bars are vertical and the captains are horizontal. How do you both like them. Mine both have vertical bars with wrist rests. I love them but wonder about the horizontal position.

 

Well, I'd prefer the vertical bars with "indirect" steering BUT, our budget was pushed to the LIMIT just getting this level of Terra Trike Tandem so it's not bad and it does make for a very easy Shift of the NuVinci CVT 330 series rear hub, since it's not a "indexed shift" and rolls on very smooth! The Efneo 3 speed drive is a "trigger shifter" which is BETTER than a standard "click shifter" so it's pretty functional but not a slick as bar end shifters on the TT Pro Tandem. After Angletech: www.cycledifferent.com adjusted and lubed the "direct" steering system it's better, still stiff feeling but it not "sticking in place" when you change course direction! Over all it's FUN to ride, SLOW but FUN! We will look into either a 14 speed Roloff rear hub set up or add E-assist in the future for a bit more, LOW GEAR. We are EXTREMELY HAPPY to be back on a Tandem!

On the new "connector section" of the Cottonwood Creek Trail, Colorado Springs, CO. May 4th. 2019

 

NICE BJ...Before getting Our Trident Chameleon, We had a Nice Terra Trike Rover Tandem... ...

 

I like the "rear derailleur" set up, although the NuVinci 330 CVT hub works good I'd prefer the set up like you've got. I showed Angletech your TT Rover Tandem but they still thought putting the "Efneo 3 speed drive" in the Stroker's Bottom Bracket and having 1 chain on the right side (Efneo to NuVinci) and one on the left (Single chain wheel at the storkers bottom bracket to a single chain wheel in the captain's bottom bracket) put much less stress on the drive train so that's what we went with!

 

I converted Ours over from the internal shift hub in the rear to the derailleur setup myself...the Stoker mounted Efneo might possibly be a good idea though...Our Rover Tandem now belongs to a friend that owns Docks Motel and Cabins in Townsend...We put about three thousand trouble free miles on it before selling it, and they have put about another 1500 trouble free miles on it...I adjusted the shift and brakes, and put a new set of tires on it for Them last fall...It's been a Good One...I hope You get a lot of Service out of Yours too BJ...

 

Thanks and yes, we hope it serves us well for a long time as I doubt we will ever have the FUNDS for an upgrade to a TT Pro Tandem or a Trident like yours! I have been thinking of either adding a Roloff 14 speed IGH or just adding E-assist, I like the Roloff as we have to keep our Trike Tandem in a storage unit which has no electrical outlets. If we have E-assist, we'd have to unplug the battery every time and take it back to the house (we live with my Mom and my brother) I have heard that it's not good to disconnect and reconnect a lot?? The Roloff hub is a little cheaper but not a whole lot. I think converting it to a rear derailleur system would be a LOT less expensive then either!