An odd post this one, but, having borrowed Derek's tandem, and having had great success with it, I'm on a mission of sorts to build a tandem - either with a newer frameset, or by 'modernising' on older frameset ('cos they're cheaper to pick up!)

Have brought solo bikes up to date with ease before, rebuilding wheels with new freehubs instead of freewheels, modern cranks instead of square tapered, integrated shifters instead of downtube mounted etc, but haven't yet modernised a tandem. All nice and easy.

The question is, to any of the club's 'tandemers', what would you do? Ancient or modern, new or old. Pros and cons etc