Commuting on a tandem?

[Becky]

Anyone commute with another rider on a tandem? DH and I work in the same building, and it occurred to me that a tandem might almost make sense since we're going to the same place every day. (OK, I'm really just looking for justification to buy another bike ) We could probably generate some killer speed working together, but I have no idea if a tandem is practical for urban riding.

Any thoughts?

[Tuckervill]

Why not? You could take the lane and go the speed limit!

Karen

[Aggie_Ama]

Someone on here works with a co-worker who commutes with his wife on a tandem. Maybe they will pop in but I know someone mentioned it.

[divingbiker]

Someone on here works with a co-worker who commutes with his wife on a tandem. Maybe they will pop in but I know someone mentioned it.

That would be me! Yes, a guy in my building and his wife ride in every day year-round. He's very tall, and she's very short, so the tandem is the only way they can ride together at a reasonable speed. Here's their bike.

[Becky]

Hmmmm...this may be more feasible than I thought from a bike perspective... But I just looked up tandem costs.... I'll be retired before I can afford a tandem!

DB, that's so cool that your co-workers commute together! Thanks for sharing the bike pic!

[jsdilks]

Hello - I can chime in here about commuting on a tandem. We live over in Arlington and both work just off the Mall, so it's an easy ride, mostly on paths for us. The panniers are packed to the gills, however, so you'll need to take into consideration what you need to bring in with you and what you can already have at work, etc. We're on the street for just a couple blocks of Independence, which I'm not crazy about, but we manage that, and have a different route home to do a loop through Haines Point. I'm not a single biker at all, so the tandem was a good choice for us as I don't feel compelled to steer, brake, or change gears. And I hardly ever yell any more when we go to fast around corners or down a hill (which I *did* do when we first started...) I'd be happy to answer any more questions too - show you the bike loaded up, etc. Just let us know.

[salsabike]

Becky, you can easily get used tandems. We got ours, a '91 Burley Duet--I grant we were lucky--for $350 at an LBS that sells both used and new bikes. If you have a local bike club with want ads on their site, I am sure tandems will show up. We can't commute together, but have put 5,000 miles or so on that bike over the last four years.

[Eden]

That would be me! Yes, a guy in my building and his wife ride in every day year-round. He's very tall, and she's very short, so the tandem is the only way they can ride together at a reasonable speed. Here's their bike.

Eh.... I'm 5 feet and my husband is 6'4". We do not ride a tandem and I keep up with him just fine (in fact it is likely that sometime soon I will surpass him at hill climbs and steady TT efforts, though I don't know if I'll ever be able to accelerate/sprint quite as fast).... Unlike running where a taller person's stride does make a difference, bikes take away the advantage of being taller. She may not be able to keep up with him, but her height doesn't have anything to do with it.

[divingbiker]

Eh.... I'm 5 feet and my husband is 6'4". We do not ride a tandem and I keep up with him just fine (in fact it is likely that sometime soon I will surpass him at hill climbs and steady TT efforts, though I don't know if I'll ever be able to accelerate/sprint quite as fast).... Unlike running where a taller person's stride does make a difference, bikes take away the advantage of being taller. She may not be able to keep up with him, but her height doesn't have anything to do with it.

He's the one who told me that, I think. Or I might be remembering my friend and her husband, who ride separately in rural areas but on a tandem in the city, because he was always losing her at stop lights since he was more aggressive.

[singletrackmind]

I commute by tandem with my son, taking him to school and then going on to work. After work I pick him up from school and we go on home. As long as I don't try to stand in the pedals it's not too much different (he's 38#).

Surprisingly nobody's yet joked about my "lost" stoker!
Last time he insisted on tying Stinky Baby (a baby doll) onto the top of the BOB trailer bag we kept getting stopped by people who wanted to make sure it wasn't real.

My husband's Trek Doubletrack was from Ebay for $500 and I've since seen another of the same on Craigslist for $300. Just make sure you get the right size or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

[Eden]

He's the one who told me that, I think. Or I might be remembering my friend and her husband, who ride separately in rural areas but on a tandem in the city, because he was always losing her at stop lights since he was more aggressive.

It very well may be that she can't keep up. I'm only disputing that it is because he is tall and she is short.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

You know, I thought of something immediately when I saw this. I read an article on couples that cook together stay together. I wonder ...will someone do a study on couples that tandem commute together stay together?

[jsdilks]

The standard line on tandems and relationships seems to be that tandeming gets a relationship wherever it's going faster than otherwise

[malkin]

I have too much fun on the tandem; I'd never want to get off and go to work.

[Jaclyn]

Malkin - I so totally agree. My partner and I love riding our tandem together. If we commuted to work on it, we'd just keep pedaling past the office and beyond. We'd quickly be unemployed together!

Becky - Create a saved search on eBay for tandems and be patient. There are often some very good deals on gently used tandems. I'm surprised by how many people invest $5,000 and up on beautiful Santanas, Burleys, Co-motions and the like ... only to have them collect dust in the garage. Eventually they are for sale and you'll get a great bike.

TahoeDirtGirl - There was a feature on NPR about a Buddhist couple that did 100% of everything together, within about 15 feet of each other, for going on 8 years now. The Slate reporter and his wife decided to give it a go for 24 hours. My partner and I were doing the National 24 Hour Challenge bike ride at the time and thought we're doing it one better - we'll never be more than 15 inches apart from each other. Oh, we won the tandem division this year!