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Claud Butler Majestic Two - good, bad or middling?

Paul Womack2020-10-18 11:12:43

For reasons best described as "random", I bought one of these, after 15 years owning and riding a custom made Longstaff tandem trike (which I still have).

I enjoy riding the Claud Butler. Rather a lot. Very different to a trike.

I've been having harmless fun looking at s/h tandems, both here and on eBay.

Question - how good is my Claud Butler? Or (what I really mean) how good a tandem would I need to buy to get a substantial improvement?

It's just being used for day touring at the moment, no intention of laden touring at all.

    BugBear

Martyn Aldis2020-12-07 12:04:49

If you did want to tour with heavy luggage, the answer would certainly be go for a tandem with a stiffer frame.

If you are thinking about a lighter bike for day rides it may be less easy to answer.

We have gone for stiffer frames as we have built up our fleet and now have two steel double marathons, although one is awaiting major surgery, and a Cannondale.  We like to ride both out of the saddle from time to time to take small hills and for backside ease and don't have the skill to do that with luggage on a limber bike.

We looked at a Majestic Two in 2001 but I though it was dated,  back from before the watershed in tandem design, when there was a move to more stoker space and stiffer frames with larger tube diameters. I don't regret passing on it but if you are a light and nimble crew it may be good for you.

 

 

Graham Riley2020-12-08 17:30:06

We absolutely love our Majestic 2. It's road biased but just eats up the miles, even with 4 panniers on. I altered the gearing to a 12-32 at the rear, and now we can manage most hills quite easily. We think about 'upgrading' fromtime to time and do have a modern hybrid type tandem as well, but we always end up on the Claud.