[Sportsandrec] tandum bike?

[Fred's ol' XP]

Hi again,
Did you sign-up for the Blind Stokers Club, yet?
www.blindstokersclub.org

Next, you might want to hook-up with a local tandem club.  I think 
the Panthers are near you.  This is a  good way to be  able to ride 
different tandems to get a feel for what you like.  Rental shops 
usually have one or two junky tandems.  A tandem club won't charge 
you money to check out their bikes.  The Panthers' web site link is 
below, and they have a ride today, next Saturday, and most every 
Saturday from what little investigation I did online.  Hopefully, 
that means they are a well-organized and large club.  If you contact 
them, and arrange to meet them at the end of a ride, I'd expect that 
you'll meet a bunch of great people, with a dozen or so different 
bikes.  You may even find a bike for sale through the club.

Florida PANTHERS  Tandem Club
www.floridatandemclub.org/panthers.htm

I wrote before that I use Craigslist for some of my tandem 
shopping.  Below should be a link to your local craigslist 
site.  Most of the bikes on there now are not my kind of bike.  For 
me, a good bike would be a used Santana, Cannondale, or a similar 
road bike with CrMo or Aluminum frame.  Your area is flat, so maybe 
you won't want or need lots of gears.  You also get more rain, which 
may mean fenders and different wheels and tires that I'd use along 
PCH.  On CraigsList, the best items often disappear quickly.  At last 
check, all you have to pick from are "vintage," "classic," and 
"custom" tandems.  They all seem to be cruisers, and not worth looking at.

http://fortlauderdale.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=tandem+&catAbb=bik&srchType=A&minAsk=&maxAsk= 


good luck!
Fred, in Carlsbad CA