Angel Tandem Ride – The bike and our gear

The tandem finally arrived just before Christmas and was always going to present a logistical challenge getting it from Auckland to Kerikeri. Phil Warr of Ebike2NV offered to deliver it to Whangarei so all I had to do was find a large wheel base van to get it from there. Easier said than done but I managed to rent a clanger in Whangarei. That meant driving to Whangarei, renting the van, meeting Phil and collecting the bike and then delivering it to Kerikeri, returning the van to Whangarei and then driving back to Kerikeri. I am now very familiar with every pothole along our poorly maintained section of SH1. Despite the multiple journey, the van was ideal for transporting a large bike.

With family visiting over the holiday period plus roads busy with frantic holiday traffic, we have not attempted to spend a lot of time in the saddles and have only clocked up 280km. First impressions have been very encouraging, both of the bike and its reception by the ‘Rear Admiral’.

So before we get into the adventure reporting, here is a little detail about the bike that we hope will carry us 7,500km around Aotearoa / New Zealand.

It’s made by Moustache, a French company, and is as such, called a Moustache with the added descriptives of: Samedi (Saturday in english) 27 (wheel size) TX 2 (take two riders).

The moustache has been an integral part of the history of the bicycle for a long time now. Look no further than the famous moustache handlebar! Our handlebars are innovative and can be considered as a modern take on the famous moustache handlebars of the past. Every moustache is unique, every moustache is recognizable, every moustache has a strong identity, just like our bikes!

We took a huge leap of faith in purchasing this bike as; we had never ridden a tandem, could not get our hands on one for a test ride and the bike only comes in a ‘one size fits all’ and with both of us being vertically challenged, our height was right on the minimum for both the captain and stoker ends of the bike. So it was a big relief when we finally got our hands on it and were able to confirm that:

• We could manage the bike without rearranging parts of our anatomy.
• We basically got on it and rode it without looking like we had spent all day in a local watering hole.
• It was actually a bike that both of us would probably have agreed to purchase after a reasonable test ride.

With 2.4 inch tyres, front suspension and with Ruth’s seat post also having suspension, it handles the rougher road very comfortably. Unfortunately, it still comes with a standard bike seat which eventually can become a bit of a pain in the butt on those longer rides. The common sense solution to that issue is to take some good breaks during a ride.  

It is an e-bike as there was no way Ruth was going to make a comeback on a manual bike. The pedal assist is provided by a Bosch drive unit and fueled by two 500w batteries.

The longest ride we have taken together (so far) is 41km with 660m of climbing on a very windy morning. Ruth announced that she did not find that ride at all taxing which is really really good news. In fact I was so stunned at hearing such a comment that I had to check that my hearing aids were not malfunctioning before getting too enthusiastic about her positive feedback. That ride was one that I have regularly completed on my manual mountain bike and even with the pedal assist, i still found it a pretty good work out. I had also ridden it on my own on the tandem and comparing the stats from the two tandem rides and for you who are going to assume that she was not pedalling, I can confirm that Ruth was definitely powering the pedals as the rider power output was 31% higher.

To give you an idea of the size of the bike. It is 2.5m long and weighs in at 32kg (my mountain bike weighs 14kg). Add two riders and that is another 123kg in weight and with all our gear strapped onto the bike that will add another approximately 31kg. So all up we will be pushing around 186kg along the road.

Being electric, it offers four levels of pedal assist. Rolling in ‘Eco’ mode we can probably expect to get about 200km of pedal assist based on hilly, breezy but mild conditions. If we dump another 31kg of gear onto the bike that will reduce our range to around 160km. We are not going to ride 160km in a day as our average ride is 70km. However, we have a couple of planned rides where charging is not possible – up to Cape Reinga in a few weeks will require us to get at least 130km of riding before we can charge the batteries. Through Molesworth Station is similar. Our longest day ride is 120km.

Range is impacted by a number of factors in addition to weight. The level of pedal assist is a big factor and going from ‘eco’ to ‘tour’ mode you sacrifice 50km in range. But it is good to know that you can boost the pedal assist on tougher climbs. Hills, wind and cold are all other significant factors that will determine the range on the day. Of course you can still use it as a manual bike but you do not want to be pushing 186kg up a hill. The Rear Admiral (RA) would not be a happy camper and I suspect the ‘grunt on the front (GOTF)’ might not be too thrilled either.

Our first rides have been surprisingly trouble free. Communication is key but with the GOTF having hearing issues, especially when he goes ‘unplugged’ we have had to devise some sign language for the RA. A hand placed firmly in the back = stop, a hand sliding down the back = slow down, a hand repeatedly banging on the helmet = trouble for the GOTF. So far we have not had too many issues but when wind and traffic are present verbal conversation can be difficult.

Ruth is our photographer / videographer, comms person, navigator and direction indicator. She is gradually testing out each of these roles as her confidence on the bike increases. Again, so far she is handling it well and rather than just having a video of the road ahead as I have recorded in the past using a handlebar mounted GoPro, we now have pano scans of the countryside together with commentary. The latter needs a little work but it is early days.

While not out on the road we have been putting the ‘down time’ to good use. We have set up our give-a-little page for our chosen charity – the Bald Angels Charitable Trust. We have also looked at how we can attach our gear to the bike. Our initial but largely untested configuration is:

• Two Ortlieb back roller panniers which give us up to 70l of volume.
• A smaller North Face duffel bag which sits between the panniers.
• A front roll that attaches to the handlebars and contains the tent and an airbed (for the odd occasion where we have no option but to camp.
• Two handlebar mounted drink bottles – two frame mounted 1lt bottles.
• A small bag with spare tube and repair kit that hooks onto the RA’s seat.
• Two small waterproof bags that attach to the RA’s handlebar stem.
• A small zipped handlebar bag for the RA.
• A small handlebar mounted bag for the GOTF.

You are probably starting to wonder if there is any room for the riders but even with all of these bits and bobs we are travelling with the bare minimum of gear. Unfortunately there are a couple of bulky items (sleeping bags) which we would prefer to leave behind but better to be prepared than suffer from exposure on some isolated hill or mountain.

Our next update will cover our preparations for stage 1 of our journey which is a round trip to Cape Reinga in order to test out the bike, riders and gear.

Help to energise our ride by donating to The Bald Angels