Greetings. We really like our Santos. I first saw one about two years ago, and being over in Amsterdam during the summer we planned, but failed, to go to factory and take a look for ourselves. JD Cycles, who sell them in the UK, have been a first rate supplier, as you will see from many other comments on this forum.
The Santos is really stable - it's the first tandem I've felt really comfortable turning as I would my solo bike. The high head tube and the lack of flex in the frame really help to make this a great touring bike. It's clearly been designed from the ground up for that purpose. I can't see us racing it (we have other plans involving a Dolan frame and a lot of spare parts........
), but it's a really great machine for long days in the saddle.
Stoker length is such that for the first time I have been able to precisely copy the set up on my other half's bike. At last she is comfortable! The captain's set up is nearly there; I just need a little more length in the handlebar stem to make it perfect. It's already a lot better than our previous tandem.
Frame finish is certainly better than many aluminium frames I've seen - better than my cheap audax frame, and on a par with my Specialized Langster. The welding is consistent, and looks as though it will last. Paint quality is good, and it's nice to see all the decals properly clear coated with lacquer than just being stuck on.
The general quality of the kit is good; Maguras as standard were a real draw, and once we had ridden a Rohloff and a derailleur gear set up back to back over the same
very hilly circular route, we were convinced that the hub gear was the way to go.
We started with the raked cromo forks until the straight aluminium set you can see on the picture arrived. I do prefer feel of the straight forks; steering inputs are less, but there again I might just be convincing myself. Either way I think they look better, and we aren't going to miss the low rider bosses. If we need to carry that much then a trailer can be attached.
I just don't like the look of the Shimano tandem cranks, and being a sucker for CNC'd metal bits went for an upgrade to Middleburn Cranks. There's nothing wrong with standard Shimano bottom brackets, but went for Royce titanium models instead. (I do like to support small British businesses). The resulting transmission is silky smooth. If you ride a fixed gear bike then you'll appreciate that chainrings are rarely perfectly round. These are a lot closer than anything else I've got in the fleet.
Overall, we've had a great start. The tandem is stable enough for me to be able to ride "hands free" (scaring the stoker senseless, but I just shut my ears!!!). We've also taken it up to 80kph down a hill and pulled it back to a standstill with no fuss at all. It's been back up a 25% gradient without any of the usual creaks and groans (riders accepted of course). I can't wait to get it into the Lake District and up a few real hills. For this Winter we will be cranking out the miles around the Trough of Bowland, in Lancashire.
Would I buy another? Definitely.
