Tandem Question

[fatbottomedgurl]

I know some of you ride tandems - maillotpois!

As if it is not enough to want a road bike, I am also interested in a tandem so I could go longer distances with my daughter. So, when you set one up for a kid in the back, can you still use it for two adults? How hard is it to switch?

And, does the man always take the front for "manly" reasons or can he be the stoker? I don't trust my husband in the front... for personal reasons (no its not lactose intolerance).

Also, is a flatbar more "stable" than one w/ drops?

[Veronica]

Sizing can be an issue if the woman is the captain. Most tandems have a larger compartment for the captain than for the stoker, even if the compartments are labeled as being the same size. Our tandem is a small/small for example. We're in the process of getting a custom tandem because the stoker compartment is too small for me. It's three inches shorter than my road bike! It will probably be easier to find a bike that fits both of you, with you in the captain's compartment, if you are comparable sizes. Thom is two inches taller than me, but we have the same inseam, so switching positions for us was pretty easy. There is no rule that says the man has to be in front.

V.

[maillotpois]

Oh my Goodness. So many of my favorite issues and questions.

Let's tackle the hard one first: I will not, under any circumstances, ride as stoker with my husband in front. You have not met him, but I assure you he is a lunatic. Sure, he has never crashed his bike (whereas I have many times). He rides motorcycles and has excellent handling skills. He is probably a better bike handler than I am. Never tell him I said this..... I simply cannot relinquish control to him. Period. He wants us to do this race that we do separately every year on the tandem. No WAY. We'd probably win, but it's not happening.

He recently conned his (little) sister into riding with him on the tandem. She claims to have had fun, though she delcined to do our upcoming 200k with him on the tandem. Wise woman.

I'm sure a lot of folks enjoy being stoker - I am just WAY too type A control freak to do it - for now at least. Maybe after I go blind.

Now on to the happier topics....

I wanted the tandem so I could ride with the PetitePois (as SK has dubbed her) and do longer rides, in traffic without worrying about her swerving into cars, etc. It works great. You can switch back and forth from grown up to kid - but depending on how old your child is and if you need a "kid back" changing can be time consuming.

This is the place to start for tandems and kids ideas: http://sheldonbrown.com/tandkids.html

How old is your child?

Do you have a bike with trailer set up now? This is a good place to start, but the tandem is much more stable and easy to maneuver.

Riding with kids is emotionally more challenging than riding by yourself. You need a "destination" that kids will want to get to (read Ice Cream Store) and constant patience along the way. Emily and I did 50 miles of the Cinderella metric century 2 years ago and it was a pretty amazing experience. She's done 50 milers with her dad in front as well. We're planning a metric for the end of the summer (CindySue's ride).

Riding a tandem with a kid always has to be fun. I will ride in the rain and cold by myself because I want and need to. Unless it is sunny and warm and there are bluebirds lighting on her shoulders, I will not ride with Em (yet). I do not want this to ever be something she does because she feels I am making her do it. If it is not fun, we stop. Simple as that. And I don't stop easily.

Having her own bento box is helpful, so she can help herself to a snack. She has a camelback of her own so she doesn't have to try to reach for a bottle. Make it fun and simple.

I still have not gotten her out of her underwear in bike shorts.

I don't think any bar is more stable than any other bar. It depends on who is holding the bars. We have road drop bars in front and sort of flattish bars in back - we can angle them up so PP can reach them better.

[maillotpois]

It took me so long to write my War and Peace, part deux, that V had already posted.

On the sizing/kid issue - with the kid back, the sizing can be alot more flexible. (Go to Sheldon Brown on this). We had our tandem custom made for Em/Me, but it will also fit Mike/Me with higher seatpost, crank shorteners or kidback (and a lot of valium).

[Veronica]

MP does your honey like to go fast down hill? Maybe I'd like riding a tandem with him.

V.

[maillotpois]

MP does your honey like to go fast down hill? Maybe I'd like riding a tandem with him.

V.

Super fast. And I like going fast - but I also like knowing I am in control. Don't mention it - he'll sucker you into doing Davis with him on the tandem...

[Veronica]

That could be fun! I really enjoy tandeming. It's the only way I ever get to blow by anybody. And secretly I have this great desire to be out front. Oh wait, now it's not a secret.

I need to do Davis on my own I think. Rebuild the confidence. Yes, you can ride 200 miles, you just can't climb 20,000 feet - yet.

V.

[maillotpois]

Yes, you can ride 200 miles, you just can't climb 20,000 feet - yet.

V.

Yet. You will.

[fatbottomedgurl]

Thanks girls. I totally understand the type A thing. My problem isn't a guy who wants to go fast (sounds fun) but his brain wiring goes a little haywire every once in a while.

My daughter is 11, she is 52" tall, so small but not tiny. I have already learned in the short few weeks with her new bike that a destination is the way to go. I asked her the other day, do you want to go meet Daddy for his ride home, or go to Dr Conkey's Candy Shoppe? Well guess who rode home alone?

I had a tagalong bike when the kids were smaller but after outgrowing that gave up on cycling with children. When she was looking over the owner's manual for her new bike she saw a tandem listed, and said we should get one! So really it started as her idea.

Its fun to think about. I will check out Sheldon, I've run acroos his site before. And I'll keep my eyes open for a second-hand small small. I'm 5'2" and my Tom is 6' so that is probably not do-able.

[fatbottomedgurl]

Was looking at Ebay and saw a green Schwinn Twinn bike from the 60's. I remember my brother's friend had one of those and they used to ride all over town, generally while under the influence. This boy ended up marrying my sister-in-law (they met at my wedding). I'll have to remind him of that old bike.

[tattiefritter]

I also ride a tandem, but an MTB one (talk about scared sometimes ). On our tandem the other half always goes in front for two reasons - 1) the size thing, the front of our tandem is too big for me to control confortably and 2) the weight thing - the SO is about 4 stone heavier than me (about 56 pounds if my maths is correct) which also makes it more difficult for me to control the bike. I have watched the SO ride on the back of the tandem with a male friend who was similar height but much lighter and he found it very difficult to control as the SOs weight had a big influence on the movement of the tandem.

In general I enjoy it as it gives a much harder workout than the solos on some of our local offroad stuff however I still prefer riding my own bike due to control, I like the feeling of picking a line etc offroad, as a stoker you are reduced to being an engine only which can get tedious quickly. Although for kids on the back it does have the advantage that you can actually look around at the scenery rather than look where you are going.

[maillotpois]

With your daughter's age/size, you may be able to get away with crank shorteners instead of a kid back. You may still need a kidback, though. I think my daughter's 56" and she's 10. We just took the kid back off maybe 6 months ago and switched to crank shorteners.

[MomOnBike]

There is a couple with a 5-ish YO daughter riding across the country right now on a triplet. It's on CrazyGuyOnABike, the You Can Do Anything tour (?) My problem with their setup is that the (really, really cute) kid is in the way-back seat. DH & I agree that we'd be much happier with our kid in the middle. Control freak issues, and all, I guess.

Which brings me to a point that others have mentioned. I want to be in control of my own destiny. It's not that I don't exactly trust DH, exactly, but blast it all, I want that Control. That and the fact that much of the scenery I'd see would be his shoulders - which I have seen before...

They say that tandeming will either make or break a relationship. For all that, I'd like to try one...once. I might be wrong.

Still, I often regret that we didn't have tandems to ride when the girls were little. It seems like a great way to introduce kids to biking while still being in charge of their safety (Control issues again... )

[gibnutlover]

Last summer I invested in a classic Schwinn Twinn tandem with the boyfriend
Now clearly this bike is just a pleasure cruiser but I think some of the same control issues come up--so I would be sure to test drive with all parties (husband, daughter) you may ride with. I am a very anal "the bike must stay in a straight line, right hand side, etc." rider. The boyfriend is what we will call a "free spirit"--that means he wants to go everywhere and poke in every dumpster w/o really telling you why he is stopping, slowing, turning, etc. So there I sit in the back a victim to his whims, BUT if I try to be captain he still manages to be fidgety enough and screw around enough to make my job very challenging. So...what I am saying is test drive your partners before a big $$$ commitment. All the whines aside, riding on the tandem can still actually be a lot of fun. We found our classic by posting an ad on Craigslist (less $$ than ebay auctions). I think w/ an inexpensive classic you can share the love of cycling with your daughter in the same amount of time as those longer distances you crave (ours is a bit of a beast, you won't go too far). Soon enough she will be old enough to bike on her own for the distances you crave. Plus, we think we look so cool on our antique...

[fatbottomedgurl]

Yeah, I was kinda thinking of a beater bike. I want to save the big bucks for my bike, which I know won't be a waste of money . And I I want to ride with Tom, he has his own bike and can (maybe) keep up with me.