Re: Calfee Tetra vs. Santana Team Nobium: Bikefanclub.com

The wife and I just finished a 70 mile ride on our Tetra-Tetra a couple of hours ago. The legs are tired, but everything else feels good.

We looked long and hard at Santana, and had to decide between the Nobium (I think it used to be called something else) and the Calfee, and decided on the Calfee because it was much more comfortable. We did a 20 mile test ride on the Santana, then rode a Calfee the next day. It only took a few miles to realize that the ride quality and comfort were vastly superior. Nothing against Santana, they make great tandems, but the calfee was much more comfortable. We have had it for 4 years, and have not had any quality or durability issues. The only thing that was frustrating was the 6 month wait for it to be built. Luckily, I hear long leadtimes are a thing of the past.

Ours has couplers as well, and we are unable to feel any difference in the ride.

The bike handles much quicker than a Santana. Whether you like that or not is personal preference. We found that it feels very much like a Co-motion as far as the handling is concerned, so if you have the option to test ride a Co-motion, you should be able to get a feel for how the Calfee will handle.

Ours is outfitted much the way you want to do yours:

Calfee Tetra-Tetra size S-S, with couplers, nude finish
AlphaQ tandem fork
DuraAce Triple 9 Groupset with DuraAce 10 brakes and FSA cranks
Chris King Hubs with Mavic CXP-33 rims and DT AlpineIII spokes, 36R, 32F
ITM carbon Seatposts with Terry saddles

There is a picture of it in the Calfee photo gallery labled Mike and Ellen's Tetra-Tetra.

Hope that helps,

Mike France

Post Extras