Bob & Mavis’ Story
We believe there is no better way to travel together, get exercise together and truly share the experience than tandeming. Plus riding a tandem is a great equalizer! If one member of the team is stronger it is very difficult to ride together when on separate bikes. A tandem allows each rider to ride their own strength level and stay together. Together we have travelled 55000 miles in 10 years in 14 different countries. The unique design and workmanship of this tandem is a real conversation starter in any language and we have been stopped many times walking through pedestrian areas and at restaurant stops to chat about the bike.
Originally we owned a Burley Duet used primarily with our kids as stokers. Once we rode it together for a bit we decided tandem riding was working well for us and decided to upgrade to a tandem we could take on touring trips. Our first, and as it turned out our last, trip to a tandem shop was DaVinci. Todd gave us a tour of the facility and we were very impressed. We went to lunch and decided this was a quality outfit and they made a quality tandem. We arranged a test ride, and that was all she wrote. We are sold on the independent coasting – or as I like to say – the independent stretching! No stoker knee strain for starting and stopping pedaling. The shifting was easy and smooth, the ride was the same.
One fun story is when we were in Munich at Oktoberfest getting ready to start our tour from Munich to Venice. We were walking around and stopped at a bike shop to check it out. We started a conversation with the owner and mentioned we were riding a DaVinci tandem and that we were heading to Venice. His eyes lit up and said Eric was the best welder in the world and he did great work! He really wanted to see the bike, but it was in our hotel room 4 floors up and since this was Europe – the tandem would not fit in the elevator – so we would have to carry it down the stairs to the first floor to get it out. Since we would have to do that the next morning anyway to leave on the tour we suggested coming back then – did I mention it was Oktoberfest? He said he would be in no shape to open the store!
Our philosophy is every trip we have done and will do is the best. We really enjoy them all. Our first trip was toTuscany and it really stands for the great food and wonderful scenery. Our tandem bike and barge trip around the Netherlands and Belgium with good friends will stay in our memory forever. We enjoy both self supported tours and organized tours. Our supported trip in Ireland from Mizen Head to Malin Head (750 miles) with the Bicycle Adventure Club was truly memorable and really showed us how bicycle touring allows you to get in touch with the people. Our most recent tour down the coast of Portugal, from Porto to Faro was truly a highlight with friendly Portuguese folks as well as wonderful food and wine.
We’re riding a Global Venture, titanium with couplers. When we tour we rely on the high quality DaVinci wheels we received with the bike. They are very durable and very reliable. We upgraded the bike with Shimano Di2 (3×11). This upgrade actually gave us a lower gear than what was already very low. We will take it when fully loaded with 60lbs of luggage going up some of those long hills in Europe and those steep rolling grades in the US North East. We also have a DaVinci Joint Adventure mountain bike tandem that we use to enjoy the gravel and dirt roads in the area .