Tandems Which way round?

Richard_D

Thinking of trying out a tandem with the other half but which way round should we be? I am bigger, taller and fatter. Does it make more sense me at the back or the front

whyamihere

Whoever is more skilled goes on the front, where all the controls are.

redvee

Those who have baked beans the night before always go in front the following morning on a tandem

inseine

You should go on the front.

cpeachey

Hi Richard
Handling a tandem requires more strength than a solo. In some cases a lady would not be happy on the front trying to hold a powerful man on the back. If this is not an issue then the taller rider could sit at the back and still see forward however tandems built for tall stokers and short pilots look a bit odd. The common setup is for the front to be bigger than the back.
Chris
technical@tandem-club.org.uk

andrewgturnbull

Hi there.

I agree - whoever is in control should go on top.

Cheers, Andy

aracer

The one with the more skill and experience, or alternatively whoever's the biggest control freak, since it takes a lot of trust to sit on the back, and a control freak would hate it. Does take some strength when you're starting out, though not if you're skilled enough.

Given my situation I have to suggest that the common suggestion of having to have the tallest/heaviest person on the front is a load of rubbish - I'm both shorter and lighter (though more experienced and stronger) than my stoker.

Richard_D

We are borrowing a tandem from a friend the first time round so we will most probably try it both ways round. They already have it set up with the larger on the front. It is just I am sure I had seen it the other way round. I will let you know how it goes. At least it is not like the tandem we saw on the LTB that was a push me pull you affair.

geoff_ss

Most tandem teams are male/female combinations and usually the guy goes in front. This almost always means that the bigger stronger person is the steersperson. That's the way we've always done it and I'm also the more skilled rider (as my wife readily admits - mind you, she's cleverer than me ) However, the very fast team of Bob and Kate Crisp had Bob at the back and Kate on the front. I assume, strong as Kate was (is?) Bob was probably stronger.

Before riding a tandem we did many 1000s of miles on motorcycles and Avice got to trust me and also got used to keeping her feet on the footrests when we stopped. That's a big advantage on a tandem. It means the stoker can pedal at full power right from the word go which is particularly useful on hill starts. Tandems are generally poor at acceleration.

Avice used to complain about me 'taking the pedals away from her' when we were climbing, thus stopping her from putting in the effort she wanted to. This became apparent once when we were climbing Kirkstone Pass and I was exhausted and wanted a rest. She told me to ease up so she could pedal harder and we made the climb easily. To change that, I advanced the rear chain set a few teeth on the front chain so she could push before I started to. It worked for us.

Geoff