Why do you love your tandem?

fimm

My boyfriend and I hired a tandem the other day. It was not a success - I found it quite alarming to have no control (I was on the back) and I think my boyfriend didn't like not being able to see me, and found the thing very awkward. Yet we know that lots of people really like tandems. So, tell me why we should try a tandem again sometime!

pete.whelan

Don't give up yet. if you find you are trying to turn the bars, put your hands on his waist instead and go with the flow of his body - the slight twists and turns will help you get used to this DON'T grab his love-handles in fear. Eventually you can nigrate back to the bars, relax and enjoy the pedalling.

Talk to each other, if only to tell you of a bump/hole coming up. You do the hand signals and tell him if its clear, etc to pull over.

They are good fun, a challenge on lumpy terrain and even out any disparity in road speed. Speeds can be awsome when you let it go.

You might have a fight as to a preferred cadence, but it will probably be towards the higher end.

fimm

pete.whelan wrote:

Don't give up yet. if you find you are trying to turn the bars, put your hands on his waist instead and go with the flow of his body - the slight twists and turns will help you get used to this DON'T grab his love-handles in fear. Eventually you can nigrate back to the bars, relax and enjoy the pedalling..

Hmmm that might tempt him to have another go

They are good fun, a challenge on lumpy terrain and even out any disparity in road speed. Speeds can be awsome when you let it go.
You might have a fight as to a preferred cadence, but it will probably be towards the higher end.

Anything that gets me to up my cadence is probably a good thing... it wasn't something we were having a problem with particularly.

Telling him we can go fast might be a good thing... (is there a reason why I can't close my eyes?)

There must be other tandem users out there?

nottscobb

My girlfriend and I hired a tandem the other week and lucky for me she absolutely loved it. So much so I now have a new project as we are now the proud owners of a Pashley I found on ebay.

I think the advantage we have is that my parents have tandems and I have piloted a tandem many times before. Also, my girlfriend is not the most confident cyclist but was happy to trust me and just do as I said when it came to starting off etc. The key though is communication. I soon learnt that I need to speak up when I'm going to stop pedalling or turn a sharp corner. I would say when I wanted to start pedalling again and Laura would start pedalling effort first otherwise I'd hit too high a cadence too early and her feet would slip off the pedals. Also, Laura would tell me when she was about to look over my shoulder to see what was up ahead so that I could duck out of the way and was also ready to counter balance the movement as she leant across. Soon enough you'll get used to each others style and a compromise will be reached and you'll have to talk less but to start with verbal communucation is the key I think.

will3

Tandems are awesome as you stay together even if you're very different strengths! However I simply can't cope on the back as 1) I don't fit 2) there's no way I can lay down as much power without affecting the steering.

geoff_ss

My wife and I bought our first tandem after we got separated within a mile from home (a little communication hiccup as to which route we were taking out of the village) and didn't meet up again until we got back home

It was an old and heavy Sun Wasp with a 4 speed dérailleur. Despite the 54" bottom gear we managed, heroically, to ride it up the very steep hill home and it convinced us to buy a better one. That was a second hand Jack Taylor which served us well for years until we lashed out on a custom built job.

We're visiting JD Cycles in Ilkley next week and may well come away with a brand new Cannondale touring tandem at my wife's insistence as we haven't been tandeming for about 4 years because of my lack of enthusiasm. She's much keener than I am.

The advantages? Well they allow couple of different abilities to ride together because the stronger rider 'lends' some strength to the weaker. They're quite fast on the flat, very fast downhill but rather slower up hill than a solo. That means you need a wider range of gears than a normal solo road bike. The stoker is free to be nosy as you pass interesting gardens etc.

The Tandem Club is rather more civilised than most cycle clubs because of the roughly 50:50 split in the gender of the participants. The WAGs keep we uncouth lads in check My wife travelled many miles on the pillion of my motorcycles so, for some strange reason, she trusts me on the front of a tandem.

A few tips.
1: It's best if the stoker keeps their feet on the pedals at all times and relies on the steerer to support the bike at traffic stops. That means they can apply full power straight away which is helpful, particularly on hill starts. Tandems gather speed rather than accelerate.

2: It can help if the pedals for the weaker rider (usually the stoker) are slightly in advance of the stronger. My wife used to find the pedals being pushed away from her on steep climbs because I was stronger. Advancing her pedals allows her to apply torque before I do.

3: It helps if the stoker takes over the signalling. Our technique is for my wife to tap my shoulder on the side she's about to signal. That saves the possible embarrassment of my turning left as she signals right.

Truly, it's worth persevering. We've travelled very many miles on tandems and thoroughly enjoyed most of them. I doubt we'll cover as many on the Cannondale as we have on the others but it may keep old age at bay for a bit longer.

Geoff

Stormy

We did a similar thing about a year ago (hired a tandem) and thought it was an absolute scream, couldn’t stop laughing we really did have a lot of fun on that day.
Shortly after I took the plunge and bought one of those cheap (but new) Viking Tandems because at the time we didn’t know if it was going to be a hit or a miss, and in the intervening twelve months or so we’ve covered just shy of 3000 miles which included a cycling holiday in the Dordogne (so I guess it is a hit).
I can’t tell you why its hit it just worked for us, and to be honest it really didn’t take too much time for us to become pretty good at it, apparently Tandem folklore states that it will get you to where ever you going in a relationship must faster!
We tend to travel much further from home on our tandem, they aren’t really racing machines more cruisers, but because somebody is right there with you the journey is far more of shared experience. As mentioned already communication is the key, and it really is quite true that even after a short while it just becomes second nature and things just kind of flow.
Tandem teams seem to raise quite a bit of interest with the public too, you will find yourself being eyeballed quite often, and people will often engage you in conversation, or pass positive remarks I suppose it’s the rarity that makes you stand out.
Bear in mind also you have certain advantages, most have already been covered, but I find it good when you come up against headwinds double the pedal power for essentially the same wind resistance as a single. Uphill you are going to be slower, on the level you can keep up a fast pace depending on your machine and fitness levels, certainly enough to leave any mountain bikes trailing in your wake, downhill it’s a beast lol.
Our particular tandem has been upgraded from the original equipment as follows - shifters (Shimano XT 9 speed) chainset to a 48, 36, 26 front mech (Shimano XT), chain to a Wipperman 908, Rear mech (Shimano XT M770 rapid rise), a pair of Kaalam Gel Flow Saddles, 2 pairs of Ergon GP1 grips, a pair of Schwalbe Marathons + superior rim tape and inner tubes. A brace of high powered P7 torches (4 to be precise) are located on bar extenders for winter riding, and a Agu Yamasha 475 Rack Bag and a Topeak Aero Wedge saddle bag, take care of tools, spares, and additional clothing, an extra bottle cage (you bizarrely only get one on the Viking Tarantino) and a cycle computer.
I haven’t exactly totted it all up but the bike cost around £350, and the upgrades take it to around £700 I believe. It’s a budget bike, but with help of some aftermarket parts it’s performance has improved no end.
Longest tour in one day 97 miles, fastest speed attained 43.7 mph, only failure in nearly 3000 miles a rear chain snapped. No punctures.
Biggest problems indexing the gears, eventually traced to a bent rear mech hanger (arrived in that condition from new), annoying creaking noise traced to a loose bottom bracket (captains). We have really enjoyed ownership of our Tandem, and feel that we’ve had excellent service from it, I can’t justify spending thousands on a Tandem, when with a few upgrades our cheap budget bike has really done well. I would recommend a Tandem to anybody, but appreciate some may not see its charms.