We love our Pino “Falkor the luck tandem” and we love your questions!
Due to the huge amount of queries we get about our Pino, we will keep updating this page to showcase all modifications we have made. More photos & videos will be added shortly. Stand by!

Bremma’s Pino Modifications 2020 – by Brendon
Since finishing our tour in 2015, Hase have made changes to the manufacturing of the Pino frame.  Mainly in the strength of the weld at the join of the frame which was causing some models to have some issues with failure, especially when loaded for longer self-supported touring.  From reports on models newer than ours, it appears this has positively effected the reliability of the frame.  We have not had any further issues with our replacement frame and have been happy with the shared experience the Pino offers our touring style.

However, there were some issues I wanted to experiment with to see if we could increase the durability of the wheel and spokes as well as changing the stokers chain line. I always found that the stokers chain tensioner (located under the stokers seat) never really held up to keeping the tension on the chain over time and always required adjusting. 

1. Chain Line
I managed to cut away a small piece of the frame under the stokers seat to provide enough space for the chain to run in 2 x chain tubes in parallel.  The chain then runs to a chain idler wheel set mounted to the down tube and then onto the rear chain ring. This new chain line is neat and is out of the way to easily access the small storage rack I have made between the low rider racks.
The chain tensioner is now an idler wheel mounted to old chain tube bracket which maintains great chain tension with no ongoing adjustments needed.

2. Storage Rack
To create some extra space for storage of the spare parts bag and camp stove that was out of the way but still easy to access I created a hammock style shelf between the low rider rack using some rope.  This was a great addition and now provides a space to hold the batteries that power the ebike hub motor.

3. Rear Wheel
As you may be aware we had multiple problems with our rear wheel.  Most of the trouble comes from having to carry so much weight on the bike for two people on a long bike tour.  This weight created problems with the spokes and type endurance.  Even with the most acclaimed touring tyres (Schwalbe marathon plus) we experienced a lot of side wall failures and punctures, so I started looking into finding a way to minimise this for our next long tour.  Through research I have found that a 16” moped/scooter tire will fit onto a 20” BMX rim.  This works great for the front of the Pino as it already runs a 20” rim.  The rear is a 26” MTB rim.  I decided I would see if we could run a 20” with a Rohloff hub on the rear.
My thinking here is that the internal gear hub allows for an even spoke tension on both sides of the wheel build. It also shortens the spokes providing great torsional stability.  These two changes should increase the overall strength of the rear wheel and decrease our spoke breaking problem.  
The second major benefit is that I have found tyres the are 2.5” wide and are 4 ply rated for moped vehicles.  This 4 ply rating increases the side wall durability as well as providing greater rubber on the road to hopefully decrease the chance of punctures from road debris.  The 2.5’ of width also gives a much more cushioned ride and some extra float in more remote sections of road we love to find.
The major downside of these changes is the extra rolling resistance the smaller and wider tyre diameter creates, however we feel the greater reliability will eliminate some of the very frustrating and time consuming issues with having to stop and fix spokes and punctures.  

4. Tout Terrain USB charger
The Tout Terrain USB adapter is possible the most compact on the market and has worked great for our needs.  It is designed to fit into the top of the head stem to make easy access on a regular bike.
The Pino is not a regular bike and requires some inventive ways to fit some of these items to make them easy to access and use.

I have mounted the Tout Terrain unit into some PVC tubing with some PVC tube end caps keeping the electronic piece secure and out of the elements.  The whole piece then is mounted to the boom tube just under the stoker seat.  This provides easy access on the fly for the stoker to change the cables running from the dynamo hub to either charge any USB item or run the front and rear bike lights.  With the addition of some magnetic terminals we no longer have to stop and manually change the terminals at the dynamo hub and are a great addition to our lighting set up.

5. Frame Bag
We originally used and small water proof bag for our tools and repair kit which work just fine.  However I have purchased the Revelate Design frame bag.  This fits into the smaller than average triangle section of the Pino and provides more than enough space for any tools / spares needed.

The original review that I wrote during the tour offers additional modifications, check it out here

And because who doesn’t love a good video of our Pino “Falkor” in action!