A NEW CHALLENGE

Building a coupler-equipped frame can be an arduous task. Some builders first weld the frame together and then cut it apart to add couplers. Others struggle with jigs that can’t accommodate couplers. At Santana, the world’s most-experienced builder of bikes with S&S couplers, the process was streamlined years ago.

Along the way, unique fixtures were developed to avoid extra steps, reduce costs and improve accuracy. Today, pre-welded assemblies allow us to jig a Stowaway™ frame as easily as a standard frame. Further, custom drawn coupler tubes provide a lighter and stiffer frame with optimized ride quality (all other tandem builders still attach couplers to plain gauge tubes). Finally, after collaborating with S&S to develop the world’s first coupled tandems built from titanium and aluminum, Santana worked with S&S to create a lighter set of stainless couplers for steel alloy frames.

How does this technology affect you? First, if you’re concerned about price, Santana buys couplers in larger quantities and installs them more efficiently. Second, if you are worried about reliability and ease of use, no one (not even S&S) has expended more time and effort testing couplers and coupler-equipped frames. Third, if you are troubled by the prospect of excess weight or diminished ride quality, Santana has worked with S&S to create lighter sets of couplers, and with various tubing mills to create lighter connecting tubes. Our exclusive tubes and couplers create travel tandems that are significantly lighter, stiffer and more comfortable—a difference you will continue to appreciate on each and every ride.