April Fools' Day, a time for practical jokes, good-hearted pranks, and fun hoaxes. Or, in the case of one British bike repair shop, a chance to bring one of your wildest, and likely most expensive, ideas to life.
In preparation for their latest stunt, Cheshire-based carbon repairers Target Composites spent three weeks constructing a modified tandem road bike. They based the design off Cannondale’s top-end SuperSix EVO bike, adding spare carbon parts to create a full build.
“The question in mind was: what is better than a SuperSix EVO? We quickly realised the only good answer was, of course, TWO SuperSix EVOs,” the shop posted on social media.
“Utilizing an innovative open diamond rear end design, we have engineered in extra compliance for added comfort while maintaining torsional rigidity and minimum possible frame weight.”
The resulting tandem, aptly named the 'SuperTwelve', is a “true feat of carbon engineering”, Target Composites wrote. It weighs just 10.6kg fully built up, offering “unrivalled watts per kilo”.
In a note shared with Cycling Weekly, Target Composites carbon repair technician Jack said the initial idea was not intended for April Fools' Day.
“Originally we were going to use the old SuperSix frames as we had a number of them knocking around, then I coined the SuperTwelve name and we immediately thought it would make a great April Fools', so decided using the more modern version would be best,” he said.
As part of a full team effort, they began by creating a plan for the tandem, and chopped other frames ready for construction. They then removed the seat stays from the original SuperSix, and bonded the spare carbon parts together in a jig. The final week of the build was spent painting the frame and adding the final touches.
“I’d dread to think what an actual cost would work out at honestly,” Jack said. “It’s taken probably three full weeks worth of labour to create, plus a few bits and bobs we have had to purchase to make the drivetrain work.”
The shop fitted wireless SRAM Red and Force groupset components to make shifting easier.
Although the tandem is yet to be test ridden, Jack said it could be “perfectly rideable” with a few extra modifications, namely a cross brace.
In a statement issued to Cycling Weekly, a Cannondale spokesperson joked: "Double the power, twice the rider, twofold the saddles and half the number of team bikes, the SuperTwelve is the next step in pro cycling!"
This is not the first time Target Composites have worked on elaborate April Fools' projects. The shop’s specialists, usually tasked with fixing damaged carbon frames, have previously created a Factor road bike without seat stays, deep-section wheels with a storage compartment, and urns for a bike “cremation service”.
