Why the crazy chainline?

[bikeworkshop]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/26708450...fKWcIN2RE6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[highlandsflyer]

2x23, so not for us.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Is there a purpose to having 100 yards of chain?
Did the builder never see another tandem?

 

[highlandsflyer]

Two big, beefy cyclists pushing watts?

 

[bikeworkshop]

A shorter chain is stronger and stiffer.
All I can think is that the pilot wants the stoker to clean the drive chain with his trousers.

 

[hamster]

SWB tandem - the cranked stoker seat tube cannot accommodate a front mech. That's why the chainset is at the front. Originally it would have been a single chainring.

 

[bikeworkshop]

I thought it must be deliberate.
Must have been before bb- and direct- mount dérailleurs.

 

[Woz]

I thought it must be deliberate.
Must have been before bb- and direct- mount dérailleurs.

1952 ..... interesting.

Was it like 4 speed derailleur originally pretty much like @hamster said, but the left hand gear lever used for a drag brake or some weird obscure hub gear? Cable routing seems to suggest this.

It's a bit of a dogs dinner but full of hope

 

[NWisGooderest!]

Beautiful double diamond frame with bent stocker seat tube.
Perhaps the captain wanted to have a clear view of the front derail trim?
I know from friction bar con days I was always being told “high - low” from my stoker.

 

[minor_LEGEND]

I think this is pre proper tandem cranksets. If the rear cranks had a spider for the driveside & the nds then it would have the same setup as a modern tandem would. What an awful thing though. (no offence Jack Taylor)