Santana Cabrio Triplet/Tandem Medium w/S&S Couplers
Date: Aug 25 Ad ID: BRIAN
If you are looking for a way to spend more time with your kids and family outdoors, this Santana triplet is the ticket! It's a Santana Cabrio S&S coupled triplet / tandem bike with 700c wheels and medium frame. The S&S couplers allow it to be converted to a tandem, easily split in half to transport inside a vehicle or on a rear bike rack, or packed in airline-checkable suitcases for out of town adventures. It's not as hard to ride as you might think and rides very nicely once you get used to it.
We started our son pedaling on this around 5 years old (using a child stoker kit as shown in last photo and then crank shorteners) and had many amazing family adventures on it, including overnight tours in the USA and Europe, local road and bike path rides, charity rides, etc. It was hands-down one of the best investments we made for our family! Our grown son is now an avid biker, due in no small part to starting early on this bike. We transported this inside our Honda Odyssey minivan with just the front wheel removed. We've also carried it in rental station wagons by simply splitting it in half using the couplers (5 minute job). It has been well cared-for by an experienced tandem owner (me) and always stored and transported inside. Santana no longer lists the Cabrio on its website, but at last check the retail price for a chrome-moly Cabrio triplet was more than $12,000.
Located in the Philadelphia, PA area. Will consider meeting halfway within a reasonable distance (like 3 hours or so, details to be discussed). We can discuss shipping if needed, although a local(ish) sale is obviously preferred. Will not reply to “is it available” messages due, but I’m happy to answer any real questions 😀
Here are the specifics:
- Frame size: Santana 'medium' for captain, but the dropped 'V-Top' top tube provides plenty of standover in all positions. Fits a wider range of riders than a regular medium. Current captain is 5'8 and that's probably at the lower size end for this frame, should fit up to a 6' captain I'd think. Stoker (rear riders) sizes are more flexible due to not having to straddle the bike to hold it up. Adult stoker was 5'2 and our son started on it at five years old using a child stoker kit and can still ride it today at 5'8.
- Frame: Santana tandem-specific Columbus chrome-moly steel, hand built by Santana in California. Steel tubeset provides a comfortable but stiff ride, even with a full touring load. Six S&S couplers on main tubes, Santana custom Z-couplers on bottom tubes. Frame can easily be configured as a tandem or triplet. Custom kickstand plate added by Bilenky Cycles in Philadelphia to support a twin-legged kickstand (trust me, you'll LOVE having this kickstand!).
- Fork: Chrome Santana with Columbus tubing legs, oversize 1.25inch steerer tube for extra rigidity. Braze-ons for lowrider racks and one set of dropout eyelets. (We used a Tubus front rack on this with no issues.)
- Drivetrain: 3x9 with Shimano Ultegra tandem cranks with newer FSA triple chainrings, Octalink BBs, XTR rear derailleur, Ultegra front derailleur, XT 11-34 9-speed cassette (low miles), Shimano Ultegra STI shifters/brake levers (aka brifters), Shimano FlightDeck computer/gear indicator. Although 9-speed is somewhat 'old school', I think it's the best all-around drivetrain for big bikes due to its robustness and especially chain life due to stronger chains and cassettes that are not as tightly spaced.
- Brakes: Avid SingleDigit 7 V-brakes with Kool Stop salmon pads (the best pads for tandems); Arai drum brake included but not currently installed (the V-brakes work fine for everyday riding if it's not too hilly). If you wanted to install a disc brake on the rear there is a braze-on that allows you to switch between a drum setup and a disc setup with the correct adapters.
- Wheels: Hadley boutique-quality tandem hubs with tandem-specific Fir 700c rims, 48 spokes. We never had an issue with these, even with a touring load: they are excellent wheels. The Hadley hubs are similar in quality to Phil Wood or Chris King and easily adjust with just a 5mm hex wrench. Great hubs! Tires are fairly new Panaracer UrbanMax 700x32, which are excellent for all-around riding (even gravel rail trails).
- Cockpit: Santana handlebars, Santana stems, Chris King sealed bearing headset (the best!), saddles included but may be slightly different than those shown in the photos (will clearly disclose before sale finalizes).
- Extras: Six bottle cages, Esge twin-legged kickstand, custom-built center section crate/case that is airline checkable 62" overall with no additional charge (the center section does not fit in a regular S&S case), Arai drum brake and all related parts (not installed currently). Note: regular S&S cases not included. Santana stokid crank adaptor and related parts available to buyer at additional cost if needed.
- Condition: Mechanically 9/10, cosmetically 7-8/10. Has two very small dimples on the tubes, one small one on the top tube and one on a bottom tube. They are hard to get a photo of because they are pretty small and definitely do not impact the frame in any way. Small paint chips and scratches here and there, none through the primer layer and all touched up (although the paint doesn't 100% match). From five feet you can't see any of them, and the paint is still glossy and in overall good condition. It does not have a 'beat up' look even though we had many adventures on it, a testament for the quality of the original paint job. If you are a remote buyer I'm happy to do a walk-around video and try to get more in-depth pics of the paint if you are worried about that.
Compared with a Co-Motion Periscope Torpedo triplet, the Santana Cabrio handles like a regular full-size tandem and can easily be converted from a triple to a regular coupled tandem with 700c wheels for everyday riding for two people. We'd keep it, but we already have two other Santana tandems in our fleet.
Asking price is $3950.
Located in the Philadelphia, Pa., area. Will consider meeting halfway within a reasonable distance (like 3 hours or so, details to be discussed). We can discuss shipping if needed, although a local(ish) sale is obviously preferred. Will not reply to 'is it available'”' messages due, but I’m happy to answer any real questions.
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