# The Schwinn I hate.



## the tinker (May 2, 2020)

Back in the spring of 2015 my wife [pictured above] got a call from her friend that they were about to toss out a bike that they had bought back in 1973. It was a Schwinn tandem. The wife said, "I'll send my husband over to get it. We'd love to have it." I said,


 "I DON"T WANT NO STINKEN TANDEM!




She won. I got the tandem. She forced me to buy two new saddles for it, as the originals were too "hard."  I also put a nice 70's Schwinn rear carrier on it., so she could carry "things" on the long trips she wanted to take on it. We rode the stinking thing "ONCE."  
WELL IT"S FINALLY GONE!  I put the original saddles back on it and  I gave it to a friend who "loves" selling bikes.   All I wanted for it was 100 bucks. He sold it today, 5 hours after he put it in front of his house, for 300.  

NEVER buy a tandem. They're big, bulky and a pain in the ass to move around and store and, you will ride them maybe once, maybe twice, but never again.


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## birdzgarage (May 2, 2020)

I call them a fight with the wife waiting to happen.


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## GTs58 (May 2, 2020)

Hey @the tinker , I have a 1969 Sky Blue Deluxe frame I'll give you just in case you change your mind and want to build one up.  I rode it around the back yard a couple a times but my dog kept falling off the back seat and she never helped pedal the damn thing so I tore it down saving the wheel sets and then parted out all the goodies that were left. Maybe you could make a neat fence gate with the frame?


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## Freqman1 (May 2, 2020)

I had one I got in a large collection. I totally tore it apart, cleaned and serviced it, and we took one ride around the yard and she said "I'd rather ride my own bike". Sold it two days later to a young couple! I think a lot of people have tandem stories. V/r Shawn


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## 3-speeder (May 2, 2020)

I couldn't agree more. .....from the back seat, "I can't see".  Yada, yada yada. Not as fun as they look.


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## Rollo (May 2, 2020)

... I built a custom "StingRay" out of this Kool Lemon tandem ... rode it once with my daughter ... then got lucky and sold it at Christmas time to a couple of chicks who thought it would be cool to ride in the slow roll bike ride in downtown Detroit during the summer ...


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## WES PINCHOT (May 2, 2020)

I HAD A BALLOON TIRE TANDEM FOR MANY YEARS.  40 PLUS.
BOUGHT IT FOR $35.  TOOK OF S-7  RIMS AN PUT S-2 RIMS AND 2.125 TIRES. A SPRING FORK, 
FRONT WHEEL SCHWINN DRUM BRAKE AND RODE IT FOR 25 YEARS WITH THE WIFE.  
GREAT FOR CRUISING THE FOREST TRAILS.  ALSO ADDED LAMBS WOOL SEAT COVERS AND A LOUD BELL.
SWEET MEMORIES.


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## Lookn4bikes (May 2, 2020)

I curse mine every time I try to get in the shed. Almost always take a set of bars to the side trying to reach over it. Owned it for 25 years and only ridden with wife once. Would love to see it being used by someone else and stored at their house.


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## vincev (May 2, 2020)

If you do have to ride with your partner,sit on the back. Let them do all the pedaling and I guarantee you will not have to ride it again.


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## Cooper S. (May 2, 2020)

Well poop cause i got a tandem frameset and crankset sitting right in front of me...


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## JimScott (May 2, 2020)

Reminds me why I sold my Cycle Truck.... too bulky and a pain!


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## GTs58 (May 2, 2020)

JimScott said:


> Reminds me why I sold my Cycle Truck.... *too bulky and a pain!*




Reminds me of why I got rid of the Wife.   .... :eek:


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## mrg (May 3, 2020)

3 bikes I try to stay away from these days ( unless it too good a deal to pass up ) is a tandom, 3 wheeler and ( I hate to say it ) Cycletruck, I've had a bunch over the years but they are a pain in the ass to load up and to store!


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## oldfart36 (May 3, 2020)

Here's the only tandem at my place.


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## Hans Brinker (May 3, 2020)

oldfart36 said:


> Here's the only tandem at my place.
> 
> View attachment 1186154



haha..great!


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## Sandman (May 3, 2020)

They do make good parts donor bikes , then you can recycle the rest .
That's how I got a set of SA drum brake wheels with a 3 speed hub .


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## Jesse McCauley (May 3, 2020)

Every time you guys see a TOC tandem in the wild- call me! 

I’ve restored a few that I still own, up to two triplets now actually but I’ll prob sell one after it’s finished... 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Kickstand3 (May 3, 2020)

I had a Mint Town & Country Schwinn  I left it in the back of a almost new Dodge Pu one night . This stupid Dodge had some kinda recall , anyways it caught on fire with the tandem in back . I guess tandems and I weren’t meant to be .


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## ricobike (May 3, 2020)

I had 3 tandems, 1 sky blue Schwinn Twinn, 1 Columbia Twosome, and another Schwinn Twinn that had been stripped that a neighbor gave me.  The first 2 were pretty nice and rideable.  Hauled them to the Arlington Heights swap and Todd Morfey gave me $120 for all 3.  I was pretty happy to get rid of them too .


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## Archie Sturmer (May 3, 2020)

Seen only one on the streets in recent years; the guy had replaced the rear seat with one of those doggie baskets, and it looked so cute.  Looked tough to ride on the sidewalk though, or to park out of everyone’s way.


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## Mr. Monkeyarms (May 3, 2020)

Obviously there's a reason why these are commonly referred to as "A Bicycle Built for Divorce".     



Both riders need to be in tune with each other, especially while turning or bad things will happen. Mutual trust is necessary. If there are control issues you can forget it. Just like a marriage.


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## Jay81 (May 3, 2020)

I've heard it said that the two best days to own a tandem, are the day you buy it, and the day you sell it. 

I've bought a couple of them over the last few years just to flip, and always immediately regretted it because they take up so much space in my already cramped garage. I did make a few bucks on each of them, but I think I'm done with them unless I run across a nice one for free or stupid cheap. Even then I might have to think about it.


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## Autocycleplane (May 3, 2020)

Freqman1 said:


> I think a lot of people have tandem stories.




Pretty much a rite of passage in the hobby. If you haven't wasted a bunch of time, space, and/or money on a vintage tandem at some point then you are doing it wrong.


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## ricobike (May 3, 2020)

I only rode my Columbia Tandem one time with another person on board.  Never rode the Schwinns except by myself and just on kind of test runs.  I think that the fun of a tandem is the challenge to try to ride it with another person.  If both people are interested in the challenge, then it's fun to have one.  My SO was not interested at all so they had to go .


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## razinhellcustomz (May 9, 2020)

oldfart36 said:


> Here's the only tandem at my place.
> 
> View attachment 1186154



Nice flowers. Where's the Tandem bike? Razin.


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## sykerocker (May 9, 2020)

About seven years ago I had a Columbia tandem dropped off for some work.  No big deal, took care of the necessary jobs then suggested the then girlfriend jump on the back so we could take it out for a test ride.  Fifteen minutes of wobbling around later (that was my first, and so far only, tandem ride) I was completely disenchanted with the idea and Maggie was eagerly (as in 10 year old eagerly) asking if I could find one for us.  I promised her I'd keep an eye out.

Damn, just never found one.  Even at all those swap meets (that I went to alone).


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## BFGforme (May 9, 2020)

We used to ride ours around with the dog trailer and 100 lb lab in the back! What a pain in the ass! Fastest way to a divorce is to get a tandom!!


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## WES PINCHOT (May 9, 2020)

SHAME ON ME, BUT I LET MY WIFE RIDE IN THE BACK AND SHE PROVIDED THE MOST PEDAL POWER.  
NOTE SURE ABOUT THE  SPROCKET RATIOS, OR IF THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE. 
I WAS UP FRONT AND CONTROLLED THE  DIRECTIONS WE WERE GOING WHEN WE TURNED.  
ONE THING MOST PEOPLE DO NOT REALIZE IS THE SPRING FORK , FOREWHEEL BRAKE, 
S-2 RIMS AND TIRES I ADDED MADE THE TANDEM A JOY TO RIDE.


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## kentercanyon (Mar 27, 2021)

Tandems are good for introducing young kids to bicycling.  I put a pair of vice grips on the down tube of an old Twinn and my kids would ride with me and not pedal, resting their feet on the vice grips.  They loved it and quickly wanted their own bikes.


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## ricobike (Mar 27, 2021)

kentercanyon said:


> Tandems are good for introducing young kids to bicycling.  I put a pair of vice grips on the down tube of an old Twinn and my kids would ride with me and not pedal, resting their feet on the vice grips.  They loved it and quickly wanted their own bikes.



Kids do love them.  I used to see our neighbors kids riding back and forth on our lane on a Schwinn Twinn.  They looked like they were having a blast.


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## Junkman Bob (Mar 27, 2021)

Has anyone heard from the Tink ... if you out there i hope all is well 

Bob


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## BOB LOBLAW (Mar 27, 2021)

I want to try a tandem some time.


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## HEMI426 (Mar 27, 2021)

The tandem I regret selling. On my way to a flea market one Sat. morn. a few year's back about 7AM. I went by a church that was having a rummage sale. Went inside, a quick walk around, found nothing that interested me. I walked out to my van to leave and I saw this older lady trying to unload her mini van. I offered to help, she said my husband put this bike in here and I can't get it out. I looked in and said both those bike's, she said thats 1 bike. It was a tandem side by side, 2 high handle bars 2 bannana seats 4 wheels. I said who ever made this did a nice job. She said it was factory made for my blind son in the 60's, so I looked at it closer and it definitely was not a backyard hackjob. I raised up both bars, it had 20 in. wheels. She said I hope someone gives me 50$ for it because I'll never get it back in the van. I gave her the money and put it in my raised roof van no problem. I rode it around the flea market by myself. I haven't seen one since. It had a drag link hooking the handelbar's together so the blind kid could pedal and the passenger could tell him  which way to steer. I don't even remember what co. made it.


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## ricobike (Mar 27, 2021)

Junkman Bob said:


> Has anyone heard from the Tink ... if you out there i hope all is well
> 
> Bob




He posted in another thread that he's giving up the computer for Lent.  Lent's almost over so I'm sure he'll be back soon.


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## PLERR (Mar 27, 2021)

Ah. So this is why I'm not seeing any action on my tandem post... Maybe my girl and I should ride it BEFORE I put any time into it.


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## A.S.BOLTNUT (Mar 27, 2021)

Almost as bad as owning a three wheeler !


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## Euphman06 (Mar 28, 2021)

2 best days of owning a tandem... The day you bought it and the day you sold it.


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## Jeff54 (Mar 28, 2021)

the tinker said:


> View attachment 1186056
> 
> Back in the spring of 2015 my wife [pictured above] got a call from her friend that they were about to toss out a bike that they had bought back in 1973. It was a Schwinn tandem. The wife said, "I'll send my husband over to get it. We'd love to have it." I said,View attachment 1186083
> "I DON"T WANT NO STINKEN TANDEM!
> ...



I don't see any problems with your Tandem in the photo. Apparently, it was just  a few yards from the lake.

Personally, I never needed to own one to hate. My wife flagged a pretty nice  $60 Schwinn at Salvation Army once and even as tempting it was to rob the parts I passed. I've passed quite a few Schwinns on C/L under $100 in past IDK 7-10 years too.

Instinctually All I could see was 2 things with em. First off I have a difficult time busting up whole bikes to part out. Even that I have a few regular ballooners I've intended to part, my heart's not in it and so, they set. And worse, the sucker bit: Resell em on C/L? I just can't look em in the eye and BS somebody on how many delightful years they'll enjoy the POS.

I even passed up a Factory made 3 wheel Paramount on C/L  CHEAP! I kina regret that one. but to flip that, is not a local job so, shipping would make it tough to get my dam 'investment' in time and effort back.

So all  I ever see is, 1 ride ends up looking at the dam things forever, fricken space they'd take up.

Yet, I don't have a nice peaceful lake like that where I could _accidently_  let em R.I.P.


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## 3-speeder (Mar 29, 2021)

Back in my twenties my buddy used to work as an overnight stocker at a nearby grocery store.  We would get all red-eyed and then take off on a tandem with a two speed kick back to drop him off at work.  I remember we laughed a lot and got really good at working together on that bike.  I would yell "shift" and we would kick back in unison then peddle away, working it like pros.  After we got him to work I would ride home solo.  Those were my good times on a tandem.


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## bleedingfingers (Mar 30, 2021)

Hard to see in this picture but my friend turned his into a mobile DJ  rig with sidecar speakers.


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## Phattiremike (Mar 31, 2021)

Back in the 90's I lived in Florida, Schwinn tandems were plentiful - snow birds hauled them in from other states.  I purchased and sold many back in those days.  I only have 1 tandem now and early Colson that was used as an advertising tool at some point in it's life, she resides in a transportation museum. with a few other bikes.


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## cyclonecoaster.com (Mar 31, 2021)

*I love my rear steer Colson Custom tandem ... the key is to ride it alone from the rear ... it throws people off & is always a good time .. I put a Sachs 2 speed automatic on this one & all gold vintage BMX parts on this build 

I had a 1969 Schwinn Sierra Brown tandem .. not as fun by any stretch of the word .. had it for a short while & sold it as soon as I could*

_*The Colson rear steer is a more comfortable rider with more space as a rider than the Schwinn had ... if you ever have the opportunity to ride one .. test it out **&** it might change your mind on tandems .. 

Ridden not Hidden - Frank *_


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## 49autocycledeluxe (Mar 31, 2021)

sounds to me like the joy of a tandem bike is directly related to how much the wife/other half likes it. I don't think I have ever dated a woman who even owned a bike at all.


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## Mr. Monkeyarms (Mar 31, 2021)

My Aunt & Uncle ride a tandem all the time and they are quite good at it. It just takes a little practice & lots of communication. Like anything in a relationship. Possibly some understanding helps also. A team working together on a tandem is a pretty cool thing to witness!


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## dirtman (Apr 2, 2021)

I've had a few tandems over the years, the only one that I really made use of was one I had as a kid, I removed the rear seat, cut the rear cranks off, and mounted three huge saddle baskets in the rear and along with a huge newsboy basket up front, I used it to deliver newspapers on, I could get over 400 papers on that bike. 
I let that go when I quit the paper route in my late teens. In my late 20's a girlfriend at the time talked me into fixing one up for use to ride, one ride was all it took, we never used it again. I had it for a few more years, and never did find a riding partner who understood how to ride on a tandem.  I was given a balloon tire tandem about 20 years ago, I brought home, fought with getting it into the shed, thought about it a bit and sold it the next week. The last few I got became parts donors for their rims and saddles. I sold what I couldn't use on a regular bike.


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## Bendix (Apr 3, 2021)

Mr. Monkeyarms said:


> My Aunt & Uncle ride a tandem all the time and they are quite good at it. It just takes a little practice & lots of communication. Like anything in a relationship. Possibly some understanding helps also. A team working together on a tandem is a pretty cool thing to witness!





I'm going to play amateur psychologist here and say that over my 35 years in bicycle retail my experience leads me to think that couples who have the spoken or tacit understanding that the patriarchal figure is the 'bike expert' and is 'in charge' seem to have tandem riding work for them best.  Others? Not so much...   IMHO for whatever societal reason successful (serious) tandem couples are 'aging out' of the pastime...


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## Mr. Monkeyarms (Apr 4, 2021)

I would tend to agree @Bendix . Since cycling is generally a male dominated endeavor we've been trying to get more women riding with us for a long time. The tandem is one way to attempt to achieve this and when both parties involved understand the complicated physics of 2 people on a bike can be affected by the smallest things, along with building trust it with each other a tandem can be a wonderful tool to further build on that trust, understanding & communication. 

In short, it's usually more enjoyable when both parties involved know ahead of time that there will be a period of adjustment and teamwork will help make it more fun.


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