Tandem Research

[dochoot]

Hello,
Got into road biking with wife this year and enjoyed it. Now she wants to get a tandem. I am 6 2" and she is 5 5". I have some basic questions:

1. Like to try used. Will it be hard to find our size?
2. Like to go fast (wife will not mind) so thinking 700 tires. Not sure of handle bars. Would like to do a tandem century. Are the "drop" kind of handle bars hard to steer a tandem compared to flat?
3. How do you transport? Are they too big to put on back of truck?

Thanks in advance

[danl1]

Originally Posted by dochoot

Hello,
Got into road biking with wife this year and enjoyed it. Now she wants to get a tandem. I am 6 2" and she is 5 5". I have some basic questions:

1. Like to try used. Will it be hard to find our size?
2. Like to go fast (wife will not mind) so thinking 700 tires. Not sure of handle bars. Would like to do a tandem century. Are the "drop" kind of handle bars hard to steer a tandem compared to flat?
3. How do you transport? Are they too big to put on back of truck?

Thanks in advance

1. Size should be no problem. Me at 6'1", wife at 5'0" was not hard at all. We bought NOS, but that was just the best choice I had.

2. Tire argument is somewhat overblown IMO, but 700 was my preference, too. With only a small bit of luck with scoring a DaVinci that didn't quite work out, I'd have been on 26's. Steering is no particular issue, as you do not steer a bike using the handlebars. With any bike, you lean to steer, and 'turn' to balance. It's just more obvious on a tandem. There is a difference in leverage, and a tandem will work the captain's upper body more than a single, but it's not at all difficult.

3) Depends on what we're doing. Goes very easily into the back of the Honda Pilot with the seats down. If we need the space, it goes on the back with a hitch-mounted rack. Once the wheels are off, it's no wider than the vehicle. Even on a small car, they're rarely wider than the mirrors (wheels off.) Lots of folks use roof racks, but I've not found the desire/need.

Have fun!

[rodar y rodar]

My wife is super short and had it in my mind that she needed to be able to straddle the bike while standing on the ground. Now I see that that isn`t the case- it probably makes her a little more comfortable, psychologically, but the stoker gets both feet clipped in before the bike moves anyway.

We usually transport ours in the back of a short bed Toyota pickup, but recently learned that it rides fine on a trunk rack.

[danl1]

Originally Posted by rodar y rodar

My wife is super short and had it in my mind that she needed to be able to straddle the bike while standing on the ground. Now I see that that isn`t the case- it probably makes her a little more comfortable, psychologically, but the stoker gets both feet clipped in before the bike moves anyway.

Agreed to the facts all around, but no standover would have been a dealbreaker for my wife. Happily, it wasn't a problem finding one for my wife from any of the mainline brands (except for Santana.)

At 5'5", I wouldn't imagine the OP would have trouble finding standover for the stoker, even though it shouldn't really matter either way.

[dochoot]

Thanks for tips. the more I read, the more I want to get one as I am sure my daughters would ride with me as well.

Looked up Santanas. Very nice but pricey. Rodar, what kind is yours? That looks sharp.

[rdtompki]

The stoker standover on our large/small daVinci is about 26". The stoker would seldom, if ever stand over the frame, but it would be possible for someone 5'6" or thereabouts. Not too many options for getting too much shorter without some unusual geometry. If the stoker wanted to mount to a standover they would need to get in this position without tipping the bike as many of us do on our 1/2-bikes since the captain is already in position holding the bike upright.

[rodar y rodar]

Ours is a Burley Samba with Softride- doubly unavailable since Burley no longer builds bike frames and I don`t think Softride beams are still in production. Comotion Periscope is reasonably priced, readilly available, and has very low standover. If you aren`t planning on "serious" riding, you might also consider Bike Friday tandems. They get made fun of from time to time and called toys, but I`ve seen a few journals on Crazyguy where people have successfully toured on them- look very handy to me.

[rdtompki]

+1 on the Bike Friday. I don't own one, but I've been on rides where couples did 40-50 miles pretty comfortably.

[dochoot]

I have found a couple of older Santanas. Around '95. Are those steele frames strong enough for a tandem to not feel it twisting around? Our combined weight around 330.

Thanks