Tandem Questions-Mimi, Veronica??

[Triskeliongirl]

Hey guys- I know several of you ride tandems in addition to your single bikes, Mimi, Veronica............

Well, I never thought I would consider it, but last night when I brought up to my husband that I thought we should start looking for a new touring bike for him, he suggested we consider a tandem instead. No matter how much faster I get, he gets faster too.... He is a very strong cyclist, one of the strongest men in our club. When we tour together, he periodically waits for me, but says that isn't much fun, that it would be better if we could just share the work and ride continuously. While I thought I wouldn't like the loss of control, he is a very skilled rider, and given that I have been having issues with glucose control lately really riding together does have certain advantages. I know the answer is to test ride, and we do have friends with tandems likely to fit well enough, but with my 3 cm leg length discrepancy I don't think I could ride a bike without my modified crank on it.

What do you guys think about frame material?. I am thinking we'd want s/s couplers which spells steel, but would it be heavy (I don't care but my husband has a need for speed)? What framebuilders/brands do you guys recommend? I was very happy with the work Bilenky did on my s/s retrofit, so we could consider having them build us one. How often to s/s coupled tandems appear used? I saw a lot of tandems on ebay, but not with couplers. Maybe this will be our 25th wedding anniversary gift to ourselves.........As soon to be empty nesters we will have more time for touring, etc.

[mimitabby]

Steel isn't that heavy.

I'm sorry, i'm not going to be able to tell you which brands to buy, but it sounds like you ought to go custom, with your leg length problem and the couplers and all...

We ride an old heavy aluminum Burley (okay, not that old, at least 10 years old)
if you are a control freak, or even someone that likes control really a lot, it could be hard. Do you trust your DH's driving? then you'll trust him on the bike.
What we've learned is that I like to be on the tandem out in the country, but in the city it's much too stressful for me.
We've also learned that the tandem beats HANDS down 2 singles in ANY wind.
It's fun to be able to pat your Dh's butt while you are riding.

[Triskeliongirl]

Thanks Mimi! Oh, and I love steel, I ride my steel bike more than my titanium one, its just DH loves his featherlight carbon trek........... But, it we want s/s couplers I think we have to go with steel since you can't couple the lighter aluminum bikes, and I am not sure my body can take aluminum. I am a control freak but I do trust my husband's driving, and his bike handling skills, so I think I could adjust. It would be more fun than having to ride with my head glued onto his wheel. Sometimes when we try to ride together I end up in tears (and/or injured), he says, 'I am doing all the work, all you have to do is hold my wheel', but he doesn't get how hard that is for me (or maybe he finally does which is why he suggested the tandem). In a way it is admitting defeat, or at least weakness, but maybe it is just the practical conclusion he is and always will be a stronger cyclist than me.

Have you ever tried to travel with an uncoupled tandem bike. Does it fit into a standard sized trico iron case?

One more question. What about wheel sizes? For an S/S coupled bike does it make more sense to get 26" instead of 700c to facilitate packing? I know Veronica's is S/S coupled so maybe she has a better idea.

[Triskeliongirl]

Another naive question. On a tandem, is the peddling coupled, i.e. to we both always have to work at the same cadence? If he pushes hard do I have to also, or if my knees are hurting can I back off a little. He's controlling the gears, so I can't downshift and spin faster like I might if my knees are hurting, or can I?

[tprevost]

Another naive question. On a tandem, is the peddling coupled, i.e. to we both always have to work at the same cadence? If he pushes hard do I have to also, or if my knees are hurting can I back off a little. He's controlling the gears, so I can't downshift and spin faster like I might if my knees are hurting, or can I?

I just got an aluminum burley on craigslist... it was a great deal... however, DaVinci makes a tandem where you can each pedal at your own cadence. I saw one last weekend and it looked pretty wierd to me but if it helps, I'm sure its nice to have that option.

We haven't even ridden on ours yet... well, SO has ridden it solo to get used to it and we are riding it together tomorrow I think it'll add another fun dimension to cycling and am now going through our organized ride list to see which ones we can ride on the tandem

[mimitabby]

from Raleighdon: "YOu can too buy a used tandem!"

honey:

here's the link I told you about. Maybe share with your forum.

http://www.tandemmag.com/classified/

The magazine site itself is pretty cool, but this is a fantastic resource for used tandems. They will list both for sales and wanteds.

Happy searches, girls!

D

http://www.tandemmag.com/classified/

[singletrackmind]

, DaVinci makes a tandem where you can each pedal at your own cadence.

On a Da Vinci you can coast whilst the other pedals, but when pedaling you maintain the same cadence, when the stoker begins to pedal, they time it so the pedals are in the proper position on the pedal strokes.

The biggest advantage to this that I could see is butt-rests at will, less need to get it together when starting off and lack of knee jerks when the captain forgets to mention a sudden stop or begin in pedaling.

[mimitabby]

we have 26" wheels and 1.25" tires on our tandem. I LOVE the stability.

I think steel is a good way to go. We have friends who have spent THOUSANDS on ultralight tandems and they have so many problems.
you're hurtling through the air at speeds up to 60mph and you weigh combined about 3-400 pounds (loaded) you don't want to scrimp on structure here.

Good luck finding the bike used. I don't think you can. Unless you get something like what we have.

[Triskeliongirl]

.......you're hurtling through the air at speeds up to 60mph.........

oooh, this part scares me............sounds too dangerous, maybe its not for me. maybe i just have to get stronger on my single bike..............

[mimitabby]

Trisk
WE have never gone faster than 49. You don't have to go that fast.
but you CAN...
I have heard of others going much faster. and I think it's reckless.
The point is, YOU CAN.
and you can easily cruise at 20mph when a single cannot

about him pushing hard while you not.
we do this.
Specifically on hills, when he starts getting tired, I can kind of give him a rest and "supercharge" for a bit.. then he takes over again.
Tandems are great this way.
or you can BOTH give your all for 10 strokes and end up way ahead of everyone.

[Jiffer]

I ditto the comments others have made about being able to cycle with DH (and faster groups) and keep up and simply "be together". Men, over all, will always be faster than women. They are simply built stronger. For me, as a newbie, even most women are faster than me. So getting on the tandem gives me a chance to do something with DH and a group where I'm not holding anyone back. DH can get a really good workout and so can I. Or one of us can take it easier if we need to and let the other do more of the work. Tandems are great that way.

It's especially fun if you can hook up with another couple who tandem. We have friends who let us try out their tandem before we got ours. They rode with us on their singles and gave us pointers, which were very helpful. We are now in the midst of trying to suck another couple into our little tandem club! It's a wonderful thing to do with friends and get exercise at the same time.

You definitely have to trust your partner. It's a huge thing with riding tandem. My husband is a very strong rider and, though he freaks me out from time to time, he has never had a crash on his own bike, says he's even way more cautious when I ride with him, and I know I simply have to trust his judgement. Just as with driving a car, he slows down later than I ever would and makes decisions differently than I would, but the more we ride, the more I can anticipate what he's going to do. Communication is also key. The more you ride, the less you need to commnicate, but first, I wanted to know everything he was doing and made sure he knew when I was uncomfortable with something. Like fast speed down a hill. "Scary, scary!", I'd say. "You think we should slow down a bit?!" Being brand new to that kind of speed, it was something to get used to. Since you've already been riding, these things won't be nearly as big of a deal to you. Plus, just so you know, a tandem is much more stable because of it's weight. It's much less likely to crash on a downhill because of a rock or something, because of it's stability.

Tandems seem to be getting more and more popular. Our cycling club used to only have a couple. Now they have quite a few, including the couple who run the whole thing. They are fast and competitive tandem riders.

[Jiffer]

By the way, we have a 2006 Burley Rivazza. It's a medium frame, and of all the brands we considered, it was the closest we could find to fit us both. We're both 5'9" and most tandems are made for a larger pilot and smaller stoker. So, it doesn't "really" fit me nearly as well as it should. We learned just how much so when I got my first single last week. The saddle is like three inches farther away from the handlebars as it is on the tandem.

We are considering moving up to a Zona eventually. You can get those custom made. Not cheap, but from what I understand, SUPER sweet bikes. I don't know if they come any lighter than a Zona. The couple that runs our cycling club has both a Burley and a Zona. They absolutely love their Zona and ride very competetively. They are the one's who encouraged us to get the Burley, though, since it was closer to our price range. Not particularly cheap, either, but a little more affordable.

Burely doesn't make tandems anymore, by the way. 2006 was their last year. So, if you did decide to look for one, it would be used.