# First ride on a (slightly unconventional) tandem



## Amanda P (26 Jul 2008)

At the York Cycle Show, I was wandering through the trade show tent during a particularly wet spell when I noticed two of the staff from the JD Cycles stand riding their Hase Pino out of the door and around the test track.







Now, the Pino is a bike Mrs Uncle Phil and I have had our eyes on for some time, as, due to the disparity in our sizes, it’s one of the few tandems we might be able to ride together. 

I next found myself chatting to the people from JD Cycles, who I discovered have a shop in Ilkley, not a million miles from York. I wondered if they rented out tandems? Apparently not, but it would be entirely in order for us to borrow one for a day to try it out – just call up and book it. So I did just that a couple of days later. Mrs Uncle Phil has been working away from home, but was due back the weekend I booked: it would be a nice surprise for her.

Come the day we’d planned our tandem ride, it was raining, hard. In fact there was a Severe Weather Warning out. It was still raining when we arrived in Ilkley, but we found that, due to Mrs Uncle Phil’s diminutiveness, more tweaking would need to be done to the bike than just sliding the boom in. John, who seemed to be in charge of matters mechanical (the J of JD?), suggested short cranks as well for Mrs. Uncle Phil. He even spotted that we were both wearing shoes with SPD cleats, and offered to fit suitable pedals. If we wanted to pop into town and get some lunch for half an hour, the bike would be ready when we got back.

“You’ve got some waterproofs, have you?” asked Jamie, who’d been dealing with us up till then, after he’d recommended a café. Yes, we said confidently, but since it wouldn’t be raining when we got back, we wouldn’t be needing them. 

The rain did stop (!) while we were eating, and we emerged to find Ilkley steaming in the sudden sunshine. Back at JD’s, the Pino was ready, with the shortest cranks on the stoker’s end either of us had ever seen. This, however, enabled Mrs Uncle Phil to ride it comfortably. After a little tweaking of the rear saddle height and a few tips on starting and stopping, we set off through the town in the direction of Bolton Abbey.

We had no trouble getting the feel of the Pino, even through the traffic and traffic lights, and were soon belting along the back road. The steering of the Pino is a little odd, probably because of the weight of the stoker over the front wheel. It’s a bit ponderous and it’s best to anticipate changes of direction and make them smoothly: it doesn’t respond well to sudden twitches of the handlebars. The brakes were hydraulic discs: a little grabby for those used to cantis or Vs, (like me!) but very effective. Gears are 27 speed SRAM with twist-grip changers. These and the brake levers are mounted the “wrong” way round on the captain’s handlebars, but this isn’t a problem once you’ve got used to twiddling the twist grips the “wrong” way. (My ‘bent has them this way too, so it was a quick adjustment for me). I was impressed with the tidy chain tubes and brackets, and the rear, crossover chainset includes a freewheel mechanism: the stoker is free to stop pedalling at any time. This also means that if the captain pushes off, the stoker can join in pedalling at their leisure, without having to “catch up” with the pedals. The stoker’s mesh seat needed a bit of tightening up as Mrs Uncle Phil found her bottom bouncing off the boom underneath it until we’d done this. After we’d tightened it, she pronounced it very comfy.

The back road from Ilkley to Bolton Abbey is very pleasant indeed. We found ourselves at Bolton Abbey in no time flat, and carried on along the road to Burnsall. We found that passing drivers were waving and smiling, and Mrs Uncle Phil, having nothing particular to do with her hands, was able to wave back – and signal. We thought that, on a tour, she’d be able to knit as we went along, or read aloud from a book on the dull stretches. Because her head was lower than, but close to mine, we were able to talk to each other without bawling, even when descending hills at speed. This was a definite boon: she doesn’t have the voice of an opera diva or a drill sergeant and she finds having to repeat things as irritating as I find having to say “what? Pardon? Sorry?” all the time on noisy roads. People could also see both our faces as we approached – grinning maniacially I suspect. Anyway, they mostly grinned back. 

We stopped for ice cream and photographs in Burnsall...






... and then the climbing started. Some of this was due to a wrong turn, but some was unavoidable. The Pino has the gears for most hills, but I’ll admit one did beat us. This is where we found its only drawback: the stoker’s heels don’t clear the front wheel when it’s turned to a sharp angle – as it will be when you’re crawling up a hill in low gear, wobbling a bit. This is true on many short wheelbase recumbents, but on these, you’re doing the steering, so you know when to cock your heel clear of the wheel. On the Pino, Mrs Uncle Phil couldn’t tell when I was going to turn the steering for another zig-zag or to avoid a pothole, and I clipped her heels two or three times. A very minor drawback, and one that probably wouldn’t happen with a taller stoker, who’d have the boom out further.






The clouds were getting blacker as we returned to Ilkely, but the sunshine persisted and we were still dry and smiling as we pedalled into the courtyard outside the shop. There was a small gaggle of customers there goggling at us – well, the Pino is an unusual sight. For a moment, we thought they were going to applaud.

We had a brief discussion of the Pino’s merits and possible modifications with John, spent some money in the shop, then said our thankyous and headed off for further refreshments. Half an hour later it was thrashing down with rain once more, but we were warm, dry and slightly sunburnt in the van heading back to York.

We enjoyed our spin on the Pino immensely, and I’d like to say a big thankyou to JD Cycles for lending us theirs. (We only realised afterwards that they didn’t take a deposit or any details of who we were – just a name and phone number. We must have honest faces!) Adjusting the bike – extensively – to our needs was not too much trouble, and they sent us off with tools and puncture stuff and even lent us a map. The shop is comprehensively stocked, the workshop clearly knows its stuff, and I’ve never seen so many tandems in one place before. I’d recommend them to anyone.

While we couldn’t honestly say we’d be ordering a Pino in the near future, we’re now much more sure than we had been that we’d like one. And how were we to find that out short of trying one seriously? 

You should probably do the same. You’ll enjoy it!


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## mickle (26 Jul 2008)

Great review Uncle Phil.


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## Amanda P (26 Jul 2008)

Thanks.

Has Co of Cyclists got one? Or plans to get one?


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## sheddy (26 Jul 2008)

Perfect setup. If the stoker answers back, they get a slap !


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## andy_wrx (27 Jul 2008)

Like the man said, great review.

Not sure about the design though.

Mrs wrx gets terrified on the back of our (conventional) tandem because I swoop down hills faster than she'd like.

If she could see what was coming (i.e. what I was about to crash her into, as it's her sat at the front...), I suspect she'd have an expression like the woman in the first picture !


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## mickle (27 Jul 2008)

Uncle Phil said:


> Thanks.
> 
> Has Co of Cyclists got one? Or plans to get one?



No but our Jim has a similar machine, not made by Hase, which he rides with his handicapped son.


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## Amanda P (27 Jul 2008)

andy_wrx said:


> If she could see what was coming...



Mrs Uncle Phil is quite used to going fast on a recumbent, and that probably helps. But she must trust me a lot. Can't think why!

Perhaps I should have added a health warning: "Don't try this bike unless you're sure of the strength of your relationship".

I had a quick go on the front too. You feel more secure than you'd think there; there's a pair of little handles to hold onto. The only wierd thing is that when you come to a corner, you think the captain (behind you) has missed it - because the front wheel's underneath you, you've gone past it before the bike starts to turn.


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## Amanda P (10 Apr 2014)

@classic33 has just 'liked' the OP above, which has reminded me of it. Perhaps an update is in order.

We never did buy a new Pino, but we did put out feelers for a second-hand one, and found one, and bought it. It had had a previous life with a father and disabled son, who toured extensively with it. Son now cycles independently, so no more need for the tandem so now it's ours!

It's been on a couple of tours, one of which you can read about here (the others are still in press), and we love it. 

We took it more recently on the Whitby to Walney route, and although we made it to Walney, we had some bottom bracket trouble in Ravenglass as we were about to begin the return leg via the Hadrian's cycle route. The Pino is now with John and Ruth at JD Tandems (who have meanwhile moved from Ilkley to Gargrave for some repairs and upgrades while it's there. So we have managed to put some money their way in the long run to cover that day-long test ride back in 2008!


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## classic33 (10 Apr 2014)

Just checking what the robots were watching in the early hours is what brought this up.
Liked what was given in the post, so gave the post a like.


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## steveindenmark (9 May 2014)

Thanks for the Wine Rivers write up Phil. You really picked the right time of year to go 

Have you tried to transport your tandem on a car or is it always ridden?

Steve


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## Amanda P (10 May 2014)

steveindenmark said:


> Thanks for the Wine Rivers write up Phil. You really picked the right time of year to go
> 
> Have you tried to transport your tandem on a car or is it always ridden?
> 
> Steve


We didn't have much choice about the time of year. And we could have been luckier with the weather.

We've not needed to transport the tandem in or on a car, as we have a camper van inside which it just fits. We have more recently managed to squeeze it onto a couple of trains, though.


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## alans (12 May 2014)

Uncle Phil said:


> We have more recently managed to squeeze it onto a couple of trains, though
> .


That's interesting.Which train operator?


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## Amanda P (13 May 2014)

Well, the East Coast mainline trains are older rolling stock with old-fashioned big guard's vans, a tandem fits easily, and I think it's the only train company that officially allows tandems. You need to have booked a bike space, because everyone will check.

The other two trains (Barrow to Carlisle and Carlisle to Newcastle) were both Northern trains.

The first had a bike compartment with a sliding door, and the Pino almost wouldn't fit. We started with it taking up most of the entrance space, but at the guard's insistence (and with the driver's help) we managed to lift it and jiggle it through the sliding door and into the bike space - just. Bear in mind that Mrs Uncle Phil is very wee, so the boom's almost all the way in. A conventional tandem would never go in, but the Pino's quite short.

By the time we got to Carlisle, seeing what we were up against, we'd swivelled the stoker's handgrips underneath the seat and removed the stoker's pedals, as these were what was making it difficult to manoeuvre round the corner into the bike space. This made it easier to get it out of the Cumbrian coast train. But on the Newcastle train, there was no sliding door - it and been removed in refurbishment according to the guard - so it was much easier.

All this is at the guard's discretion. We pushed our luck, smiled a lot at the guards and were ready to get out and wait for the next train if it got really busy. We had no choice really. Your mileage may vary.


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## Soltydog (14 May 2014)

Uncle Phil said:


> All this is at the guard's discretion. We pushed our luck, smiled a lot at the guards and were ready to get out and wait for the next train if it got really busy. We had no choice really. Your mileage may vary.


Smiling & being patient can help a lot rather than ranting
A couple of months ago we had a dutch couple get on our train at York with recumbents, heading to Hull for the ferry home. The guard was reluctant at first as Northern don't allow recumbents, but after there pleasant manner & smiles he allowed them on. Only time i've ever seen a recumbent on our trains.


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## Amanda P (14 May 2014)

I know nothing about what a guard's duties and responsibilities are, but I imagine safety is high on the list. So anything that stops people easily getting on and off a train is not going to go down well.

They also often seem concerned about getting the train away to time, and this may help... once a bike is on a train, it may not technically fit the rules, but if it takes more time to get it off again than to let it stay where it is, then it may be seen as the lesser of two evils to leave it where it is. 

Especially if: it's staying on until the train terminates and then there's no rush to get it out again, the owner is pleasant and acknowledges the guard's power to remove it, and stands by to do with it whatever needs doing.

The driver who came out of his cab to help us manoeuvre the bike into the first train's bike space was a star and a gent. He was clearly somewhat scared of the (slightly scary, female) guard himself, and seemed impressed that we'd managed to persuade her to let us stay on with the bike; the least he could do was chip in.

I guess driving a train up and down a rainy cumbrian coast isn't the most exciting job, perhaps this livened his day up?


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## Soltydog (14 May 2014)

Uncle Phil said:


> I guess driving a train up and down a rainy cumbrian coast isn't the most exciting job, perhaps this livened his day up?


Can think of worse things to do for a living  I love the wolds coast line & can work that all day, just a shame you hardly see the coast line, just a small stretch north of Brid where we can see the bay. Some folk at work dont like the coast line because its boring, but I find there's always plenty to see & even in rain it can be interesting. As a driver we dont have to get involved with passengers & I dont often, but occasionally I'll help out & chat with passengers, normally when they have a bike  the dutch couple with the recumbents I spoke to & gave them an old copy of velovision I had in my bag, something to read on their journey home.


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