NotSoBigBen Posted August 15, 2016 Posted August 15, 2016 So my son and I want to ride a tandem we have for the first time today and intend to ride it in a short event taking place this Saturday (about 22k's, nothing serious) Due to the size I'll be 'pilot' and him 'stoker', we both have quite a few years of road and mountain bike riding experience. I am somewhat stronger and fitter than him at the moment, not sure how that will influence anything though Any tips? Starting, stopping, keeping it upright .... we're pretty chilled both of us so don't think we'll have any 'compatibility' issues!
FlyingScot Posted August 15, 2016 Posted August 15, 2016 As a stoker I would say the biggest thing is to completely trust your captain. Communication, warning for bumps, turns, when to stand etc. is also key. The rest is fairy logical...
NotSoBigBen Posted August 15, 2016 Author Posted August 15, 2016 As a stoker I would say the biggest thing is to completely trust your captain. Communication, warning for bumps, turns, when to stand etc. is also key. The rest is fairy logical... Thanks .... think we'll skip the standing for now
Skott5 Posted August 15, 2016 Posted August 15, 2016 The Captain needs to cut beans out of his diet at least a week before ..
NotSoBigBen Posted August 16, 2016 Author Posted August 16, 2016 So we went out last night ..... actually a lot easier and fun than I thought it would be! Was a bit tentative when cornering and the first bit out of the suburb (stops, robots and traffic) but once we got going it was no problem. Will go out again this evening and tomorrow
Long Wheel Base Posted August 16, 2016 Posted August 16, 2016 As a stoker I would say the biggest thing is to completely trust your captain. Communication, warning for bumps, turns, when to stand etc. is also key. The rest is fairy logical...I am glad you trusted me Like said above communication is key, I have ridden with FlyingScot a hand full of times and although we know each other well off the bike we had to talk a lot on the bike in order to get the feel of things. My usual stoker is my toppie and we have been riding tandem together for many years and we actually don't talk much when racing. My Dad knows exactly when I am about to stand or change gear and so on. He even knows when to grip a gel out my pocket and give it to me. But this kind of cohesion takes time.You will find standing to be difficult at first, especially if your riding styles are different but you will both have to adapt because standing on a tandem is completely different to standing on a single. You need to be super smooth on a tandem, especially the stoker. Otherwise you are just working against each other(If I am not mistaken you have done some time on a TT bike? so your style should be good). Your butt is going to hurt like crazy because of all the sitting!!!As a captain you have to remember that handling a tandem is not like handling a single. It brakes and turns completely different(which is why riding among singles that don't understand this is hard)I personally am not a fan of both unclipping at stops but so many tandems do it. I tell my stoker to rather just stay cleated in and trust me that I will hold the bike up. That is personal preference though.If one of you is feeling good/bad or uncomfortable with cadence you need to let the other one know.Changing gears is also an art on tandems. On a single you naturally back off the power without thinking when changing up front but on a tandem the stoker might not realise and just keep the power on, so anticipate front gear changes in advance and if need be let them know you about to change.
Flemish Lion Posted August 16, 2016 Posted August 16, 2016 We've recently bought a tandem and love it. It's great if your partner isn't that fit as you can still push really hard without having to look around to see if your partner is still there (vs single bikes). Whats the process to race tandem? I am licensed but my wife isn't. Does she need a day license? We'll have to do a few Engen rides first to get comfortable in a bunch. It helps to have a light person at the back while standing as it's easy to throw him / her around After 3 saddles we've found a good one for my wife so try out a few and reduce butt pain! Also take into account you are not as nimble as on single bikes so anticipate a bit quicker to obstacles on the road and increase following distance a bit longer. Changing gears is still a bit of a challenge for us but we getting there - we do seem to run out of gears pretty quickly!
droo Posted August 16, 2016 Posted August 16, 2016 Watch out for the trail on the back wheel when cornering, a tandem steers like a bus so you'll need to turn in a bit later than you're used to. Also, make sure the frame, fork and wheels are decent quality. Two people can put down a lot of power, and the fork in particular can take a lot of strain especially under braking. Found this out the hard way.
Long Wheel Base Posted August 16, 2016 Posted August 16, 2016 We've recently bought a tandem and love it. It's great if your partner isn't that fit as you can still push really hard without having to look around to see if your partner is still there (vs single bikes). Whats the process to race tandem? I am licensed but my wife isn't. Does she need a day license? We'll have to do a few Engen rides first to get comfortable in a bunch. It helps to have a light person at the back while standing as it's easy to throw him / her around After 3 saddles we've found a good one for my wife so try out a few and reduce butt pain! Also take into account you are not as nimble as on single bikes so anticipate a bit quicker to obstacles on the road and increase following distance a bit longer. Changing gears is still a bit of a challenge for us but we getting there - we do seem to run out of gears pretty quickly!No License required at all to race tandems. When there are races that have 2 tandem groups(racing and social) its all down to seeding. The only time you would need a license is if you want to race at SA champs. My race tandem is a 2x10 setup with a 44/56 up front and then we got 2 sets of wheels. The one set has a 23-11 cluster and the other set has a 28-11 cluster. My training tandem I got 32/42/54 up front and 28-11(9speed) at the back and the gearing is way to small for racing. Its fine for training as when I run out of revs it doesn't matter. I also find with that gearing we hardly ever get out of the big blade and have never ever used that tiny blade.
NotSoBigBen Posted August 16, 2016 Author Posted August 16, 2016 Thanks for all the advice/info guys! Like I said it's just for a once off fun event we will be doing on Saturday ... it's actually not the right size (the back is a tad too small) but for 22k's it'll be fine! After this my son and his fiancee will use it for Race for Victory (the short one) and then for 94.7, they have ridden it quite a bit and are pretty comfortable.
Flemish Lion Posted August 16, 2016 Posted August 16, 2016 No License required at all to race tandems. When there are races that have 2 tandem groups(racing and social) its all down to seeding. The only time you would need a license is if you want to race at SA champs. My race tandem is a 2x10 setup with a 44/56 up front and then we got 2 sets of wheels. The one set has a 23-11 cluster and the other set has a 28-11 cluster. My training tandem I got 32/42/54 up front and 28-11(9speed) at the back and the gearing is way to small for racing. Its fine for training as when I run out of revs it doesn't matter. I also find with that gearing we hardly ever get out of the big blade and have never ever used that tiny blade. Great, thanks for the advice! I'll have to check our gearing (3 x 10) 105 on the cannondale T2. I'd like a 2x10 setup - how do we go about this? Just buy a Shimano 105 / ultegra crank? Will we need a new front derailleur then too? I'm planning to do R4V to get a seeding for 94.7 but this maybe too late - I'll have to email CSA. We already avg 31 around the Cradle from home and my wife is pretty unfit. She's getting back into cycling after 2 kids.
Flemish Lion Posted August 16, 2016 Posted August 16, 2016 Thanks for all the advice/info guys! Like I said it's just for a once off fun event we will be doing on Saturday ... it's actually not the right size (the back is a tad too small) but for 22k's it'll be fine! After this my son and his fiancee will use it for Race for Victory (the short one) and then for 94.7, they have ridden it quite a bit and are pretty comfortable. Good luck and sorry for the hi-jack
NotSoBigBen Posted August 16, 2016 Author Posted August 16, 2016 Good luck and sorry for the hi-jack No worries at all, asking things I didn't even think of and your contributions also help!
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.