Riding a tandem with your wife...fun or grounds for divorce?

[Hard-Drive]

So, is it more fun to head out with the Mrs on two road bikes, or one tandem? I see pros and cons of each, but just wondered for those who have done it whether it's a case of "great fun" or "never again, and the lawyers are arguing over custody of the dog".

She's a comparatively new to proper cycling, but rides a proper road bike properly and properly dressed/SPD-SL'd etc. If I'm riding solo or with my club I am faster than her, but she's come on loads this year and I do really enjoy a weekend café ride with her. She'll do about 25 miles quite happily at a decent enough pace, does riding a tandem effectively increase your range for the same effort or not?

What about speed? I'd like to get her out on a club ride, but she's too quick now for the older guys/girls, but not yet strong enough for the faster group who will also be doing 40-50 miles. I wondered if a tandem could help here? It could be good to do some touring/camping too.

I've heard they can be hard work up hills, is this true?

Thanks!

[sleepezy]

Only had a brief encounter with a tandem - and that was leisure cruising while on holiday

They are massively faster than on your own - we were breezing past everyone else
They are much less effort to ride at any pace
They do get some getting used to - but only took us a couple of minutes
Communication is absolutely critical - the person at the back needs to not mind being told what to do
I'm not sure what the view is like for the person on the back...

We found it good fun, and would do again - but I am a leisure cyclist at best, and even I am much faster than my partner - not sure what it would be like for two keen cyclists.

We did 25 miles in the day, approx, and it was a doddle. I'd have thought 50 miles would be relatively easy, particularly for someone who rides properly. Coastal path ride so can't really comment on hills - but the short ones we came across gave us no issue.

Why not rent one for a day and find out what you think of it.

[lufbramatt]

I've spent some time riding tandems. Used to help out with a cycling club for partially sighted people, so they could get out in the countryside on a bike. As above, communication is key- but this goes both ways- on one occasion the guy I was with was daydreaming and didn't hear me say we were stopping at traffic lights- he was heavier than me and I couldn't hold the bike up and dropped the tandem and him in the road. He didn't talk to me much after that. Apart from that it was a very rewarding experience.

Also took the wife on the golden gate bridge from SF on a tandem as she wasn't confident enough to ride on the other side of the road. After struggling for 10 minutes it suddenly clicked and we had a great day out. We even caught and passed a group of roadies on the way back up the hill from Sausalito to the bridge as they are surprisingly fast bikes on non-technical roads.

Cons are they handle like trucks, steering is heavy and slow. Braking needs more thinking about although I'm sure modern setups with hydraulic brakes are better. I wouldn't want to ride one every day as for me a lot of the enjoyment of cycling is having a light, nimble bike you can throw around corners and you have to consider that any mistakes that lead to an accident will affect someone else too. But they are a fun experience in their own way.

[smifffymoto]

I rode with Mrs S.
It evens out abilty and makes it fun vecause you see everything at the same speed and same time.You get to put efforts in at the same time as well as relax at the same time.
Up hill they are slow but just spin up and don’t rush,down hill they are anything but slow.

Mine is a Thorn,s&s couplers,Rohloff,Hope rear brake,pannier racks,Son hub etc. and it’s for sale.

[dontlookdown]

I have tried to get my missus on a tandem with me on a number of occasions. We both like cycling and I think it looks fun but she absolutely will not do it. Says I boss her around enough already;)

[Dog Star]

sleepezy said:

I'm not sure what the view is like for the person on the back...

Funnily enough I’ve been trying to get Mrs DS into going beercycling on a tandem and my intention was to put her on the front specifically for the view.

[jfdi]

Been there done that, at least managed to sell it for a profit.

I thought the same as you so purchased a cheep old tandem to try it out. First time out was spent with me shouting at her on the back to sit up straight and stop leaning (I was having to counter lean to stay up right) all I got back was well I can't see where I'm going if I don't lean. You don't need to see, I'm driving! The experience possibly wasn't helped by me weaving in and out of rush hour traffic like I was on my road bike

She now has an electric road bike that you can't tell is electric other than a slightly fat rear hub. Best training tool (for me) I've ever purchased. We can now go out together without me having to think about avoiding big hills, I just have to try and keep up.

[Hard-Drive]

Cheers for all the advice and stories. We’re going to give it a go…I picked this up yesterday evening for the princely sum of £150, which seems like a whole pile of Reynolds 531c/Mavic/Stronglight/Shimano/Blackburn goodness for the money. I’ll put some new cheapo bits on, Charge Spoon/Ladle saddles, stoker suspension seatpost, new bar tape, and possibly some bigger tyres but will probably just give it a go “as is” to check we like it.

I’ll report back!

[RizzoTheRat]

dontlookdown said:

I have tried to get my missus on a tandem with me on a number of occasions. We both like cycling and I think it looks fun but she absolutely will not do it. Says I boss her around enough already;)

Similar here, I quite fancy having a go one, and a local rental place has a few, but my Mrs refuses. Mind you I'm not sure if it would be worth the effort, we had a go in a tandem kayak once, if she stopped paddling it made no difference and if I stopped paddling we stopped

I did have a go on on a triandum (if that's what they're called), with my 2 nieces on the front, which was interesting, I stopped pedaling and thing kept accelerating

[Bonefish Blues]

Over 40mph downhill the screaming stops - at least you can no longer hear it...

[Dog Star]

RizzoTheRat said:

I did have a go on on a triandum (if that's what they're called), with my 2 nieces on the front, which was interesting, I stopped pedaling and thing kept accelerating

“The Goodies” - who remembers them? - had one - they called it a “trandem”.

By the way - this kind of jollity wasn’t just reserved for pedal cycles - I give you the 1930s Bohmerland…




I’m sure I read somewhere that they did a version where the guy on the back operated the gears. What could possibly go wrong?

[Mr Pointy]

Dog Star said:

RizzoTheRat said:

I did have a go on on a triandum (if that's what they're called), with my 2 nieces on the front, which was interesting, I stopped pedaling and thing kept accelerating

“The Goodies” - who remembers them? - had one - they called it a “trandem”.

By the way - this kind of jollity wasn’t just reserved for pedal cycles - I give you the 1930s Bohmerland…

I’m sure I read somewhere that they did a version where the guy on the back operated the gears. What could possibly go wrong?

Pfft, amateurs.

[RizzoTheRat]

Dog Star said:

“The Goodies” - who remembers them? - had one - they called it a “trandem”.

I vaguely remember early episodes of The Goodies having a tandem with an extra seat on the luggage rack for Bill Oddie, but they definitely had all 3 of them pedaling on later versions.

The one we hired was adult on the back with the controls and kids on the front just pedaling

.

[dontlookdown]

The oddest tandems I have seen are the ones with a recumbent rider in front and an upright person behind. Idiosyncratic.

[Bonefish Blues]

dontlookdown said:

The oddest tandems I have seen are the ones with a recumbent rider in front and an upright person behind. Idiosyncratic.

A really excellent way to get people with limited mobility cycling. See also http://charlottestandems.weebly.com/ for the partially sighted.

[smifffymoto]

If you want odd,Azub make a recumbent tandem which folds for easy transport.

Transporting a tandem isn’t easy in any guise.

[Hard-Drive]

smifffymoto said:

If you want odd,Azub make a recumbent tandem which folds for easy transport.

Transporting a tandem isn’t easy in any guise.

In fairness, I took the front wheel off, pushed the passenger seat in my F11 BMW 520 estate all the way forward, and it just went in the back of the car no problem (to my surprise!)

[dontlookdown]

Bonefish Blues said:

dontlookdown said:

The oddest tandems I have seen are the ones with a recumbent rider in front and an upright person behind. Idiosyncratic.

A really excellent way to get people with limited mobility cycling. See also http://charlottestandems.weebly.com/ for the partially sighted.

That is a good point that I hadn't considered. I knew there must be a reason for them beyond mere non-conformism.

[hyperblue]

They do look like fun. I pedalled past one going up Ditchling Beacon, they were huffing and puffing a bit (fair enough) but making steady progress. A few minutes later on the descent towards Brighton, probably doing high 20s/low 30s they came absolutely flying past as if I was standing still. Had to crack a smile!

[Bonefish Blues]

hyperblue said:

They do look like fun. I pedalled past one going up Ditchling Beacon, they were huffing and puffing a bit (fair enough) but making steady progress. A few minutes later on the descent towards Brighton, probably doing high 20s/low 30s they came absolutely flying past as if I was standing still. Had to crack a smile!

Slugs going up, bullets going down, that's the tandem way