SMART move by a local bike shop -- others should pay attention

[HopeHoops]

6. My wife and I have our own bikes, but we also ride a tandem.

The tandem weighs about 8 lbs, has five speeds, (fenders), lights all over the place, mirrors everywhere, a double rear basket, and snowmobile saddlebags tied to the baskets. When we open it all up it looks like a dressed Harley. We've had it for 25 years and still ride it. When the kids were young we threw a trailer on the back so we were trucking about 17' of bikeage down the road. We would take her shopping and come home with about 100 lbs of food (we had a front basket at the time also).

My wife's bike is a racer - 1 1/4" 80lb tires. She rides it to work. Mine's a mountain bike a friend gave me. It works. I still prefer the tandem, but those 25 year old tires need to be replaced. The sidewalls are cracking and I don't want to deal with that in the field.