The more I looked at the HASE Pino 2021 the more I liked it and the more of an ingenius solution I thought it was to so many problems. Referring back to my list of requirements this is what it ended up looking like:

  • Must be comfortable to ride and not induce sciatica in either rider.
  • Must be reasonably convenient to transport by car to allow a wider range of cycling areas to be enjoyed. ✓
  • Must be possible to transport in our motorhome garage, or on a motorhome rack. ✓
  • Must be reasonably convenient to store at home. ✓
  • Ideally could be ridden by one rider. ✓
  • Must provide good carrying capacity. ✓

In summary:

I did not know at this point whether the Pino would be comfortable to ride. All I could go on was that I could not find a report that said that it wasn't comfortable for the stoker and I could find many reports that said it was extremely comfortable.

Very encouragingly I even managed to find references from people who had found the stoker Pino position to be the answer to back issues when tandem cycling. I was 99% sure I would be able to be comfortable on the Pino in the rear position, I saw no reason why I wouldn't be.

It was clear that the Pino 2021 could be transported by car with the frame shortened, also the tandem length, when shortened, meant it could be transported in the garage of our motorhome, a huge plus. I did some investigating and determined that the folding THULE EasyFold XT 3 tow ball mounted bike rack would be perfect for carrying the Pino 2021, no more struggling to roof mount a tandem.

The ability to shorten the Pino 2021 meant that we could comfortably store it in our available space at home, it can clearly be ridden by one rider and it can carry oceans of luggage. It seemed to me that the bike would satisfy all our requirements and could even be used as a solo touring bike for short trips or long weekends.

I had at this point pretty much decided that this is the bike that I wanted, I knew that if I went for the Shimano Steps option this would create some limitations in terms of touring range but as that was not to be the primary function of the bike the advantages of motor assistance seemed to me to outweigh the "touring limitations". Time would tell how this might work out and I'll share my experiences as time goes by.

The big problem of course remains, the cost. However, things were to take an unexpected turn.