Rich and Diane F.

Rich came to me several years ago because he had heard about my fastidious approach and drove nearly 100 miles to visit my studio for our client intake consultation.

He told me he rode 9,000 miles a year, split between 4 different bikes, including a tandem he rode with his wife.

I ended up servicing 3 of those bikes, including a full Optimization Process and Report on both the Co-Motion tandem as well as his primary bike which was a Look 586 carbon road bike.

This is the feedback I received from Rich following their first ride with the Co-Motion.

~M.S.

Testimonial from: Rich and F.
Bike: Co-Motion Tandem
Product or service: Full Optimization

Diane and I gave the Co-Motion a good workout today. 40 rolling miles between Ione and Plymouth.

When I rode the Look and the Sampson after you worked on them, I thought both bikes were faster and more stable and performed better. But what you did to the Co-Motion is truly remarkable. It was almost like riding a new bike today. A huge and very noticeable improvement.

From the first mile we could both tell that the bike was faster. Reducing the tension on the timing belt really made the bike significantly easier to pedal. The shop that installed this belt was a tandem shop in Pleasanton and they should know how to do it. But the belt always felt tight and seemed to put a lot of drag on the drivetrain. Today that resistance was noticeably reduced.

The shifting was spot on, front and rear. The bike has never shifted as well as it did today.

There used to be a kind of grinding/scraping/rubbing noise in the 53×17 that I tried to get rid of for months, by adjusting and lubricating. You got rid of the noise! I suspect it was the tweaking of the front derailleur that did the trick.

The adjustment of the rear disc was perfect. When the other shop installed the brake I noticed some rubbing/singing, and I tried to get rid of it by adjusting the calipers. I ended up with them a little too wide, but at least they didn’t rub and make noise.

You were able to bring them closer together while still keeping everything aligned and without the slightest hint of disc brake noise. Congratulations! The front brake was also perfect, close without any rubbing.

I don’t know if the wheels are faster or not but I’m betting they are. Rolling downhill today the bike seemed to retain speed longer. Since I wasn’t pedaling this isn’t from the reduced drivetrain resistance.

Before you got the bike I thought I noticed an occasional noise from the rear wheel under load, but there was no hint of that today after you worked on the wheel. In fact, it is amazing how quiet the bicycle was today; your adjustments and lubrications silenced everything.

The Optimization Process made a tremendous difference in the performance of this bicycle. I am certain that the bike is 1/4 to 1/3 mph faster. I know Diane and I were shaking our heads and grinning at how the bike responded to our efforts. We are two very happy and satisfied OCS customers. Thank you for the care and attention and skill you bring to servicing fine bicycles for discriminating riders!

Rich and Diane