1st Tandem to Earn the Colorado Triple Crown!

Congratulations to Andy & Kami White for becoming the first tandem to earn the Colorado Triple Crown! This accolade required qualifying for and completing three of the four RMCC sanctioned double century series, in one season, within aggressive time cutoffs. These double centuries include some of the very hardest courses in the country, at high altitude, including daunting ascents.
 
“After aligning ourselves with Paketa a few years ago, we discovered the goals we formulated had to be a step above anything we had thought possible. The performance of the tandem was inspiring and brought the impossible within reach.”

 
After setting a tandem course record on the 225 mile Death Ride with 16,000 feet of climbing, the next in the series was the Cripple Creek Crippler. The Crippler is arguably the hardest double century in the country, and the least tandem friendly course with nearly 20,000 feet of climbing, very tight time cut offs often at the tops of climbs, and this year finished with 4 hours of rain. Andy and Kami had an amazing day finishing in 18:15 in spite of both the rain and mechanic problems during the final 90 miles. It is likely they will be the only tandem couple to complete this event for a very, very long time!
 
“The team at Paketa deserves credit as an inexhaustible reservoir of technical experience and support. They helped us upgrading, tweaking and customizing the tandem for the extraordinary technical challenge and brutal conditions of this accomplishment.”

 
Andy and Kami completed the final course, the Grand Loop, topping over 12,000 feet Trail Ridge Road, in 16:04, the fastest known time of any mixed tandem couple to complete this challenging ride! By completing the Grand Loop, they become the first couple to ever complete the Colorado Triple Crown on a tandem, and set tandem course records on all three courses they completed! This is truly an amazing feat as an unfortunate DNF in the final 15 miles of the easiest event, Denver-to-Aspen, meant they had to complete the series by riding the three most difficult events of the series: Congratulations to both of you!!!
 
“After riding tandem for 20 years, we spent the last three years training for this level of riding. Developing fitness and mental toughness was such a rich experience. The mental skills we’ve built thru years, often rising before dawn for training, working thru hardships on these events, 2am race starts, weather and fatigue; taught us a lot about each other and serves us as a couple every day. The accomplishment means most to us as a representation of our successful relationship.”

Team Radsport on Paketa Tandems at Masters Nationals

Team Radsport cleans up nationals with lot’s of medals on Paketa Tandems

Congratulations to team Radsport of Pinnaclife Racing Team. They scored again with 4 National Championship Gold medals, 2 Silver Medals, 6 Bronze medals and 4 4th place medals at Masters Nationals this year. All of these medals were won on Paketa V2 and V2r Magnesium Tandems.

NAHBS 2013 – A great success for Paketa

I can’t say enough about the tremendous show that was hosted in Denver last weekend. The 2013 North American Handmade Bicycle was a huge success. The people of Denver came out in full force to show their love of cycling. We are proud to be a part of the Denver cycling community. We were also impressed with how many people traveled from all over the US and all over the world to come to the show.

Thank you to every person that stopped to chat with us about our bikes. We love showing off our amazing rides, and we hope you keep in touch with us. We also want to thank the event organizers for doing such a great job and driving a big crowd.

The Bikes we showcased at the North American Handmade Bicycle show this year in Denver:

1. D2r Magnesium tandem bike with two couplings for easy travel. The D2r was shown with a right-side Gates timing belt and a compact crankset. We also showcased our new finish option, which is a nano particulate ceramic coating. Ceramikoat is extremely hard and scratch resistant, and also very thin. We had the insides of the frame and BB shell coated for extra protection. We chose a matte finish for the show bike, and I have to say that the matte finish from Ceramikoat is extremely smooth and continuous. It looks much better than a matte finish powder coat. This incredibly versatile tandem weighed in at 22.5 lbs for the show.

2. WAC Corporal 29er:  A mountain bike with a double/double belt drive. This bike simply rocks. It’s a single speed, but with more versatility so you aren’t always stuck with one gear. And you still get to use the Gates belt drive. The rear wheel simply drops out and you can switch the belt manually to a different combination of sprockets. Switching the belt takes less than a minute, and you don’t get your hands greasy. This 29er weighed in at 22lbs for the show.

3. 18th Street Scorcher: This super fast singlespeed tandem was displayed with no chains. Adhering to the Gates philosophy, we used a belt for the drive and also for the timing. It rides so quiet and clean. The most unique thing is that we built the bike to allow the drive and timing belts to both be mounted to the right side, allowing the use of any crankset.

4. Scud All-road bike: The Scud road bike we presented at NAHBS is a slick looking bike. It’s matte black finish mates perfectly with the finish of the ENVE carbon fork, rims, handlebar, stem, and seatpost. JP built this bike with Campy Record EPS, and did a fabulous job of concealing the wires. The bike also featured Hayes road disc brakes, and the entire brake line was routed inside the frame, leaving no cable clutter on the bike.

5. V2 Time Trial Tandem: The V2 time trial tandem is a speed machine. I can’t keep track of the number of people who have won races on this setup. Everyone at the show loved the Sweet Wings titanium tandem cranks that are on this bike too. What a great touch.

6. D2r Tandem with four couplings: This bike is a sight to behold. It’s flashy paint job really brought a lot of attention at the show. The frame is powder coated with a super chrome base coat, then Lollipop Berry faded to Ink black with a clear vision top coat. It has matching pink American Classic 420 Aero wheels, metallic pink bottle cages, and some other pink flare parts that really bring it all together.

Here is the 18th Street Scorcher. A fast single speed tandem

a slow moment at the Paketa Booth at NAHBS 2013

JP Burow and Dave Walker discussing

The Scud All-road bike with Campy Record EPS, Disc brakes, full internal cable routing, and tapered fork.

WAC corporal 29er with Double/Double belt drive

V2 Time Trial Tandem

Paketa Magnesium bikes at NAHBS 2013 in Denver

V2r customer testimonial

We just received a great email from a V2r customer. The interesting thing about this customer, is that he has ridden many of the competing tandems, including the Calfee carbon fiber tandem and our own V2. Read on to see his comparison.

“Hello and just a quick note to say we have been on the Paketa V2r for a few months now, and we are riding the perfect tandem! This is by far the best tandem bicycle we have ridden. Previous tandems owned were a Paketa V2, Calfee, Burley, and we still have a Co-Motion Supremo that is currently idle. The V2r is very close to the V2, but it rides closer to a single bike, plus a little lighter with the single bike parts. Visually it is much cleaner with the right side drive. It is very responsive and efficient while pedaling. You don’t feel the internal torque in the bars and across the tires contact patch. The bike is completely stable at any speed and tracks on rails. The smoothness vs stiffness does not make sense, as if they are incompatible with each other, but yet they are both present in the ride. Great job!” – Trey

D2 Travel tandem with two S&S couplings

We just completed and delivered our first two-coupling version of the new D2 custom magnesium travel tandem. With two S&S couplings, this super light weight tandem fits in a standard single bike case and weighs in at less than 50 pounds with the case. The bike itself, weighed in at 24.7 pounds with a wide-range triple gearing (30/42/55 & 11-30 Recon Ti cassette), Campy 10s shifters/derailleurs, FSA carbon bars and seat posts, San Marco SLR Flow saddles, Ritchey WCS captain & Zona carbon adjustable stoker stems, Lightning tandem cranks with left side Gates Carbon Drive timing belt, Campy Super Record dual-pivot f/r brake calipers, American Classic 420 Aero 3 wheels with Conti 25 mm Gatorskins.

The two-coupler option is a great option for airline travel as you will only be charged as if it were a single bike. The four coupler tandem fits in two separate S&S travel cases, and travels on airlines at no additional charge. The two coupling option is also great for carrying the tandem on a rear-mounted car rack or for carrying on a roof rack. The convenience of breaking the bike in half can also help with storing the bike at home. The possibilities are endless…..

Click here to read more information about Paketa Travel tandems:

New Paketa Scud for Di2 and tapered steer tube

Here is a little sneak peak of our new custom Paketa Scud magnesium road bike frame with internal routing for Di2 and Hydraulic road disc brakes. This bike is built with our incredibly versatile 44/44 mm headtube, which allows the use of 1.5″ and 1.25″ tapered steer tubes or internally mounted headset cups. Adjustable rake headsets are also a possibility. With all of these updated features, the ride quality and lightness of the magnesium frame, and custom geometry; there is really no bike out there that competes with the new Scud from Paketa. You can visit us at NAHBS, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in February to see this bike in person. We will also post photos of the bike once we get it built up. It should look pretty slick with the Enve carbon fork with matching finish.

A Letter from James Brown – bronze medal Paralympics

Here is a letter we received from James Brown, a Paketa tandem owner who won the Bronze medal in the 2012 Paralympics on a Paketa V2r magnesium tandem bicycle.

” Dear Jp and Nick,

We got bronze in the road time trial – on the Paketa V2r tandem!  We were delighted and we shocked many with our stunning performance – I genuinely believe a large part of the success was the bike.  I attach a couple of photos.  We totally trashed the Americans who had been expecting a medal – but the standard was exceptionally high.

So, can you do me a track bike next?  We failed to get a medal in the pursuit because the bike they gave us was not fit-for-purpose (in fact it was sh*t!); I think a Paketa tandem track bike would be just what we need!

MANY THANKS”

James

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Pinnaclife Racing takes 16 medals at Nationals, including 4 golds

 

We just wrapped up the tandem races in Bend and Pinnaclife racing takes home the most medals of any team represented at Nationals.

Included in all these medals were two National Championships with Dave and Gary winning the 90+ Men’s tandem Road Race, and Chris and Colleen taking the win in the Elite mixed Tandem Time Trial.

The team won the following:
4 gold medals: 2 in men’s 90+ RR and 2 in mixed elite tandem TT 
6 silver medals: 2 in Men’s Tandem elite TT, and 2 in men’s Tandem 70+ TT, and 2 in men’s 70+ RR
6 bronze medals, 2 in mixed tandem 110+ TT and 2 in mixed 110+ RR and 2 in men’s elite TT

Chris and Colleen bring home the gold at Nationals in Bend Oregon

In June 2011, Chris DeLaTorre and Colleen Montoya from Huntington Beach, CA, became proud owners of a Paketa V2r racing tandem. Experienced single bike roadies, this husband-and-wife team decided to give tandem riding a whirl. Less than a year later, Chris and Colleen entered and won their very first time trial race: the Southern California Nevada Cycling Association’s State Championship, mixed tandem, 90+ category.

Last week, Chris and Colleen rode their little red rocket (a mere 23 ½ pounds) to gold in the USA Cycling National Championships’ mixed tandem elite category in Bend, OR.

Chris is a member of the Radsport/Pinnaclife Cycling Team, which racked up gold, silver, and bronze medals at this year’s Nationals, all on their Paketa V2 magnesium tandems. Way to go, Chris, Colleen, and Radsport/Pinnaclife!

Paketa tandems take 1st, 2nd, and 4th at Haystack TT last weekend

Congratulations to the three Paketa tandem teams that raced at the Haystack TT last weekend. We are proud to announce that Paketa Tandems took 1st, 2nd, and 4th in the race. That’s just fantastic. Way to go to the racers.

There’s some professional photos from the event here: http://www.sportifimages.com/RoadRacing2012-1/Haystack-Mountain-TT/Individual-TT-AM/22576715_N3hb7s#!i=1808349707&k=9cwKF6p