Kent International Northwoods Dual Drive Tandem Bike, 26-Inch, Green/Black

The tandem's arrival was heralded by a sickening "crunch" on the front steps. I came out the front door in time to watch the Fedex truck speed away. The box had obviously been subjected to at least three impacts in transit from China.The bike inside, however, survived just fine with a few insignificant cosmetic scratches. An hour or so of assembly/adjustment and I was on my way for a 5-mile shakedown run.Everything seems to be in order. It has the best features (except that with a steel frame it's a tad heavy) of the three tandems we've rent.edSo far, so good. This bike is definitely up to showing us if we want to spend real money on a serious Tandem.Update several days later: We went on a shakedown ride with both of us on-board. It's a great bike, and meets our needs well.Update #2: after 1-1/2 years, we still love the bike. Took it to Mackinac Island last summer and it was the focal point of our vacation. With both wheels off it fits nicely (up-side-down) in our Highlander, and also fit inside our Escape before that. One big thing we've done: Replaced the seats with better ones. After about 5 miles the original seats are getting pretty hard

This bike was difficult to assemble (the instructions were basically worthless), is extremely heavy, and is of poor quality. I had to take it to the bike shop to add clips to both seat assemblies to avoid having to have a wrench with me in case we changed riders while riding and needed the seats raised or lowered. I also had to have the bike shop adjust the gear shift handles and mechanisms, which didn't work (and still don't work due to bad design and poor quality).I'm 6'3" and the front seat is difficult to mount even for me. When riding it earlier this week, the chain came off, the seats rotated, and the front handle bars became disengaged from the wheel. My passenger and I fell off and I did a face plant on the asphalt. It is a very difficult bike to handle.The kickstand is too long and the bike tips over after the kickstand is engaged.There is nothing good about this bike except the price. But inasmuch as I'm thowing it away, I've basically lost that money.

Purchased a warehouse deal. Someone opened a flap in the box and saw it was not put 100% together and retuned it. It was all there. I've fixed bikes so this went together in 40 minutes plus adjustment after the first ride. The only real issue was I had to bend the guard that protects the rear gears so it wouldnt hit the derailleur. It was basically "pre-bent" like when you slam the bike down real hard. I took a pipe and bent the ends back to where they should be.SO other than that most people with intuition and the ability to look at some online videos could put this together. The parts go together like they should. You do have to get the wheels on straight so look and adjust. You'll need a couple Hex wrenches I think it is a 4mm (or 5mm?) and then a 6mm and 8mm. I just use a cheap metric set. Then you need an adjustable wrench or 2. This is for the 15mm nuts on the front and rear axles so a 15mm wrench is good. Oh yeah a phillips on that rear guard and then you need to tighten it up with a wrench. You will need to adjust the gears especially on the rear. Mine came unadjusted and the chain ended up wedged in between the gear cassette and the spokes on first run. No problem... I guess this needs another tool which most people have. A small flat headed screwdriver is used. Go to the rear gear adjuster and find 2 small slot screws right next to each other. In simple terms, one screw adusts so the chain doesnt go off the left and the other screw adjusts so it doesnt go off the right. You basically adjust each so when you turn the gear selector on the handle bar (right hand one) the chain goes all the way to the largest gear but not further and then twisting the other way it goes all the way to the smallest gear and no further (it probably cant go off that way). The best way to test this out is by flipping the bike on its handle bars and a seat. Be careful cause this is heavy enough to hurt you if it falls on you. Have someone turn the gears from the handle while you adjust. I did it another way by just riding it but it is very hard to see the gears when you are riding it.Other than that... make sure to put on the rear handle on the front seat stem. Tighten up those handle bar screws evenly cause they can be tightened offset and probably strip.The left hand brake needs to be connected in a couple points. The end of the cable goes through the handle and is hooked in the lever that you pull. It will probably fall out if you dont have the brakes put together. With most parts like the front brakes just getting them on and straight is the first thing. You can adjust them after that. The pad parts that do the stopping will have to be repositioned a couple times in the whole process. They shouldnt contact the tire but should be close so they dont fall off the rim. Probably the last part of doing the brakes.Brakes on back was easy, handle bar on front, easy, seats were easy, pedals were easy.The bike is well made and pretty heavy duty. I pumped it up like I always do. Just enough so when I get on the tires dont displace. I dont know the PSI but it supports two people fine. I dont "think" I need better tires... A 5' 2" tall person on the back is possible when you take off the reflector and lower the rear seat almost touching. Add the reflector somewhere else with a wire or cable ties.It is nice when you get someone on the back who can help pedal! You can get up hills faster for sure as a team. I am teaching a late bike riding bloomer how to balance on a bike with this. I think it will help for confidence as long as I dont accidently take off while they are standing with their feet on the ground. I didnt go far.Fun Bike and super cheap too!

This was our 2nd tandem bicycle. The bike arrived and the box had significant damage. I had the delivery driver photograph it for evidence. When I opened it, the only damage found was on two decals. The bike assembled easily and intuitively. Make no mistake assembly is not for a non-tech user. If you are unfamiliar with tools, this is not for you. It would be wrong to assume that you could remove the bicycle from the box and in a ready-to-ride condition. There is a reason bicycle shops exist. There were several fine adjustments that are needed for any bicycle, just like there are adjustments that are needed every 100 miles or so. After getting everything roughed in, we took it on a 5-mile ride and shook out the rest of the bugs. There was a squeek in the front right pedal arm. I called support and they suspected a possible bearing problem and sent the part out the same day. I later found out I had not made the pedal quite tight enough, (oops). Support was outstanding and the tech gave me his direct email for any future problems! We have put on our first 50 miles and love the bike. It is quiet and easy to ride. One odd item was that the bike originally listed 2.125 inch tires, in one place and 1.95 inch tires in another place. I noticed that the kick stand was about 1/4 inch too long. I suspect the smaller tires were not quite as tall. I did have to grind 1/4 inch off the kickstand to get the bike to rest in a stable place. I think a shop would have sold this bike for $500+ and this was well worth the price we paid. Don't expect more than you pay for, but this is a great leisure bike worthy of 1,000-2,000 miles a year of riding.

It's pretty simple to assemble but is just SO rough out of the box. The gears slipped, chain tensioner a loud mess and wheels horribly out of round. It took a local bike mechanic and hour ($86 tax-in) to tighten and tune the gears, remove, bend and add spacers to the tensioner to make it functional and true both wheels. I was given a professional opinion that this is a starter bike in that there are components that will wear out that will cost more to replace that the worth of the bike. On a positive, it IS fun to ride (once tuned) and definitely turns heads. It's also good for riding with someone who cannot ride a bike. I had one of my kids (about 100 lbs) who cannot ride on the back and told him to just sit up straight - had zero problems.