Picked this up in the hopes it could be a 'suspension corrected' MTB to replace a Cannondale MT800 that now has a 69 degree head angle with the additional 3" of fork a Rock Shox Recon 100mm adds. [Cannondale Flops a bit].

My main issue is it has a low BB height [~10.5" with stock fork, although Recon bumped this to ~11.5"], coupled with the initial steep head angle of about 74 degrees and different sized seatposts make me subtract a star.

Frame is nice, welds are ugly, but hey, you're paying under $500 for this thing. Components are what you would expect, very basic, was disappointed to find a freewheel on this thing and not a freehub, that's unfortunate, but once again, what do you expect for sub $500?

I'm basically replacing everything on this: Wheels, Derailleurs, Cranks, Fork, when all is said and done it's going to total about $1500. I took it for an initial spin with the recon and it handles well, much better than the Cannondale. My daughter and I enjoy tandeming a ton and this should fit the bill for the off-roading we do. [Single-Track but no huge drops, mostly hardpack with rock, we're in CO front range]

So, for all the wrenches out there here's the skinny:
135mm R Spacing
Effective TT Captain: 22.5"
Effective TT Stoker: ~18.5" - 20"

Captain's Seatpost: 29.8
Stoker Seatpost: 31.6

68mm BB Shells
Head Angle w/Stock Fork ~74 degrees

Axle to Crown w/Stock Fork ~17.75"

120mm Head Tube Length [Rather Larger]

[Will update with pics & more detailed review once I get it set up]

The bicycle was well packaged and arrived undamaged except for the front chain guard, which was cracked but isn't needed. Assembly was easy though several times I found that I had mounted parts upside down or backwards. I had to adjust the derailleurs and the brakes, which is to be expected. My only complaint as with several of the reviews is that the pedals are too close to the ground because of the compression of the shock. The tips of the front crank lost their paint on the first ride from scraping the ground. My son and I are a both about 150 lbs, so it had nothing to do with having a heavy captain on the front. Clearly the shocks are not intended to be on the frame of this bike. I fixed the problem, at least temporarily, by placing a thin piece of rubber under a hose clamp placed and tightened to prevent the shock from compressing (two of these - one for each side). The shock is now rigid and works great, or it doesn't work as a shock anymore, but it works perfectly for a bicycle that never needed a shock in the first place. Because of this I would normally have given one star, but other than the shock the bike is a great value. The frame and most of the other components are aluminum instead of steel. It shifts great and rides smooth. Some people complained about their feet hitting the front wheel when pedaling and turning. This might have occurred if they didn't reverse the fork when they pulled it out of the box. I did initially assemble it backwards too, but figured out it was backwards and fixed it. I don't have any problems with my feet hitting the tires, at least not any worse than I do with my other bikes. As of now, I haven't noticed my feet hitting the tires at all. There is potentially a major safety issue with the bike. When disc brakes first came out for bikes they found that it is possible for the quick release levers to get caught in the disc causing the rider to go over the handle bars. The quick releases were redesigned to prevent this from happening. This bike has the old style quick releases - not the redesigned releases. I don't know that they actually can get caught in the disc, but I do recommend reversing the quick releases so the lever is on the opposite side of the bike from the disc. This will prevent any possibility of that problem from occurring. It remains to be seen whether I can get my wife to ride this bike with me. She's scared of bikes. If she does and it looks like we'll be riding it I'll replace the fork with a rigid fork solving that problem permanently.

Overall, I am disappointed. The quality is average (at best). The included instructions indicated derailleurs and brakes were "...adjusted at factory...". I'm guessing the person doing the adjusting took the day off or fell asleep. The brakes were so far off, I had to pull cable (no minor adjustments); the rear derailleur was close, but the front was so far off, it couldn't move the chain to small or large rings. I spent several hours adjusting the brakes and derailleurs -- highly frustrating. The bottom bracket for the captain was so out of adjustment (tight!), it was very difficult to rotate the cranks....not to mention the grinding noise. The bike appears to be a good value for the money; but, it's not of the quality expected from old school Schwinn. The front shock is of very low quality -- no adjustments and it doesn't work very well. The grips are oddly shaped, but comfortable. The stoker has a good amount of adjustment for bars (reach and height); my stoker (lovely wife) finds it better than okay, but not great.. At 6'4", the bike fits "okay" (but, this is our fun bike, so exact fit isn't as important as my personal bikes). I would not purchase again.

This was a hard one to write- the bike is well made, gear shift (21 speed) works well, frame is aluminum and it has disc brakes- 2 problems-
The quality of the seats is terrible- my wife rode with me for 1/2 hour ans is still sore after 5 days- The rear handle bars have limited adjustment and affects the seat position in the front-
Pity to make a sound bike and skimp on the things that affect comfort- If Icanreplace the bars and seat andget a good riding position I will raise "stars" to 4.

Excellent, EXCELLENT Tandem bike for the $$$ -- as echoed by many other Amazon purchasers. I have been riding and building bikes for over 40 years, so I know what I am talking about. I purchased this one because in our advancing years my wife no longer felt comfortable straddling our trusty ole Burley 'Rock & Roll' tandem of 20+ years. Yes, yes, the components on the Schwinn Twinn are low-end economy (e.g. steel cogs vs exotic forged and machined alloys chain rings etc) -- but they WORK! ...and work WELL -- as long as you are not riding it in the Tour de Peking or other grand toure. Which reminds me -- Whatever Chinese company built this in the name of Schwinn (?) did a very credible job IMHO. (Odd you cant find it in the Schwinn product line up?!?)
What most impressed me MOST was the quality of the aluminum frame, which alone is worth the cost of the entire bike -- based on other brand name bikes I have purchased over the years. The frame is light weight, stiff, and strong., Sure the welds aren't ground down to an airplane finish, but again this isnt a racing maacheeen.
Assembly and adjustment was 'normal' for a new bike -- which means, one needs to pay attention to the details to tune things, or find a competent bike mechanic who can do this level of work in his/her sleep. I was able to tune the bike and eliminate any unwanted noises, squeaks, scrapes and it runs like a top -- flawless. But what REALLY impressed me was the quality, detail and easy read of the included owners manual. READ it FIRST. Great detail and easy to understand, including how to adjust and includes tricks of the trade that many bike riders dont know. If you or your favorite bike repair guy read the book it will answer all your set up questions.
As with any bike of mine, I will eventually upgrade some of the components, like pedals, seats, handle bars, maybe others. But NOT because they dont work, but because I like to personalize the 'ride'. But I could not/would not do that if the frame was flawed.
Speaking of ride, we live in relatively flat terrain so the 21 gears work just fine for us -- dont need 30+ gears for mountain climbing. And the wider tires with an inflation limit of 40 lbs give it a 'cruiser' kinda ride, vs a commuter bike, or racing bike feel. You can always get narrower, higher pressure tires/tubes but this is a 'pleasure' ride for us so the lower pressure takes the shock out of the road for the stoker without any fancy seat-stay shock aborbers.
The assembled tandem weighs 47 pounds out of the box and my wife and i easily maintain 15 MPH on the flats (Could go much faster if my stoker would 'kick-in' and pedal for heavens sake. LoL Cause the bike is well balanced and stiff.
CAUTION: Cant power through a tight turn (e.g. pedal through the turn) as many here have commented. I proved thqt myself LoL. But, BUT, that very point is addressed in the owners manual., as well as other good tips (e.g. like to avoid cross-gearing which especially applies to any 3-chainring bike but is often missed by casual riders.
Finally, I rarely write product reviews but this was an exception. I took the risk to purchase this bike only because of the very helpful responses from other Amazon customers to questions I had -- for which I am very grateful to each of you who provided an answer to my questions.
My wife LOVES this tandem which makes me extremely happy. I recommend it highly for 'reliable' casual recreational riding (Which at our age constitutes 'exercise') LoL.