Tandems for dummies

[roubaixtuesday]

I am confident that the relationship would not survive the second 15 minute spell of a tandem experience.

I'm sure she'd love it - after all she always enjoys riding behind me on my machine

 

[BoldonLad]

In principle my long term relationship has survived almost 50 years. And we have been married that long too.

I am confident that the relationship would not survive the second 15 minute spell of a tandem experience.

How do people cope?
What special property has not been included in our relationship ?

Same principle applies as every other activity in a relationship/marriage, ie the wife is always right, do not argue with her. 😂

 

[T4tomo]

Literally no idea, I was thinking to myself "I'll move them back, thats going to be annoying" while he was explaining He had paid his lbs to make the change and was quite pleased with the result so it had obviously helped in some way

I've heard it done help with setting off, pilot applies power and then stoker is on down stroke to apply their power so less of a dead spot. I never tried it in my tandeming in days.

It's easy to experiment, just ship the timing chain off the front cranks and realign.

 

[bobzmyunkle]

I've heard it done help with setting off, pilot applies power and then stoker is on down stroke to apply their power so less of a dead spot. I never tried it in my tandeming in days.

It's easy to experiment, just ship the timing chain off the front cranks and realign.

In the distant days when we had a tandem, I used to have the cranks slightly offset so both aren't hitting the deadspot at the same time. More like 15 degrees rather than 90. I would think 90 degree offset might be a bit choppy. No idea where I got the idea from, it was definitely pre-internet.
There's a learning curve to riding a tandem that can seriously test a relationship.

 

[JhnBssll]

I've done a bit more adjustment this morning. Cranks are now synced and the pilot saddle is a little better adjusted. The stoker's bars were slightly wonky in every way possible so I've straightened them up too.

Bits have started arriving for my 2x11 drop bar conversion I've got a GRX R810 rear mech and some Kinesis Jo Burt bar tape by the back door, with plenty of other bits on the way

 

[roubaixtuesday]

I've done a bit more adjustment this morning. Cranks are now synced and the pilot saddle is a little better adjusted. The stoker's bars were slightly wonky in every way possible so I've straightened them up too.

View attachment 782285

Bits have started arriving for my 2x11 drop bar conversion I've got a GRX R810 rear mech and some Kinesis Jo Burt bar tape by the back door, with plenty of other bits on the way

View attachment 782286

Sounds great.

What the gear ratios are you planning with the GRX?

And is this for a touring set up or more just day rides?

(Sorry to bombard, just curious)

 

[JhnBssll]

Sounds great.

What the gear ratios are you planning with the GRX?

And is this for a touring set up or more just day rides?

(Sorry to bombard, just curious)

It's currently running the standard 11-32 8 speed cassette and a 22-32-42 triple. I'm swapping to an 11-42 cassette and 32-46 double, so I'll lose a bit at the low end and gain a bit at the top. It's got a low ratio of 0.69 currently, this will be 0.76 with the new kit so not a significant loss. We've not ridden it enough to know how useful the really low gears are but we haven't been off the big ring yet, fingers crossed its a good compromise.

I've just ordered some Schwalbe hurricane gravel tyres to try out and need to measure and order some hydraulic hose to fit the new brakes, I'll do that tomorrow

Long term plan is to use it for some gentle touring. We'd like to cycle to harwich and get a ferry over to Holland for example.

 

[GarthW]

The cranks are usually matched in rotational position, yours are out by 90 degrees. I’ve never seen a tandem with the cranks out of sync like this. Any idea why?

Tandems are harder on everything, and there aren't many components made specifically for tandems. Putting the cranks 90° out of phase spreads out the torque peaks so the rear chain and the cassette and freehub body don't have to handle as much force or torque. It's like that car engines fire the cylinders at different times, never all together. The only downside is that it's awfully awkward if both riders get out of the saddle and stand on the pedals at the same time (which of course is when you'd want the protection for the parts the most anyway).

your stoker might appreciate a suspension seatpost, a pretty common addition, lot of tandems come with them as the person in the back can’t see the bumps coming.

Our tandem model offered the Softride beam option. Since I had heard of stokers not wanting to ride anymore because they were tired of getting beat up from the rear, I did not hesitate to pay the extra for the Softride beam. With it, no bump has ever been a problem for my wife.

 

[GarthW]

I am confident that the relationship would not survive the second 15 minute spell of a tandem experience.

How do people cope?
What special property has not been included in our relationship ?

I was just telling someone today that a tandem is definitely not instant gratification. When we first got ours, neither I nor my wife had any tandem experience, except for our short training rides from the shop. (And note that an inexperienced stoker can run you off the road, even though her bars don't turn.) It was all I could do to keep the rubber side down. After a few rides, I was ready to put it in the dumpster and write it off to experience. It's like you have to learn to ride all over again. We did however gradually learn, and after a while we got our agility, and were able to ride no-hands, track-stand, and my wife could get out of the saddle and stand on the pedals without warning me even when I was on the aerobars. We put 10,000 happy miles on it, and then for reasons unknown to me, she suddenly decided she didn't want to ride anymore. I enjoyed riding it with our sons too though, until they got to big to fit on it.