Tandem Bikes?

supertramp

Hi
I am planning a cycle around France next summer. I have my route sorted out and am stubborn with it and want to keep the route. The thing is I have a great girl and we are really getting on well, and she would like to join me.
She isn't a regular cyclist AT ALL!
And my routes are at least 125km per day for 3 weeks. I am going from Roscoff - St Jean de Luz - Montpellier - Cherbourg

So i thought of a tandem? If anyone can help me with the following points it would be great!
-does the amount of pedalling have to be the same for each person? or could one do most of the pedalling?

-do they come in racer bike form? thin wheels, etc?

-how are they going up hill? would it be too hard to do steep ascents with a tandem with lots of bags?

Thanks for any help

Húrin

Are you talking about renting or buying (probably not worth it)? Why not just get her into cycling her own bike?

Lumen

If only I had the space and the cash.

Jawgap

The bike place in the Phoenix Park had tandems to rent last year - maybe rent one of those out for a few hours in the Park and see what you think?

hynesie

I have a bit of experience with tandems as I occasionally help out as a tandem pilot with the local visually impaired peoples activity group in Galway, so I'll do my best to answer your questions.

supertramp wrote: »

-does the amount of pedalling have to be the same for each person? or could one do most of the pedalling?

Legs turn at the same cadence but that doesn't mean that each person is applying equal force to the pedals.

supertramp wrote: »

-do they come in racer bike form? thin wheels, etc?

There are a good selection of tandem types, the most common ones being touring tandems and clunky mountain bike type ones.

supertramp wrote: »

-how are they going up hill? would it be too hard to do steep ascents with a tandem with lots of bags?

They are slow going up hill. Never tried with lots of bags but I can only imagine it'd make them even slower.

The best thing to do is to try one and make a decision then. Rent one for a day, they're good fun, and see what you think.
Where abouts are you based?

blorg

Húrin wrote: »

Are you talking about renting or buying (probably not worth it)? Why not just get her into cycling her own bike?

The issue is when you have two people of very disparate ability, a tandem will allow the weaker one go much further with less effort than they otherwise would. For that matter even with two strong riders you can go further and faster than the same two riders on their own bikes.

@OP- renting one in the park is a very good idea to get used to it. AFAIK both riders have to pedal with the same cadence (the cranks are linked by a timing chain on the other side) but the weaker person can just put in less effort or even none (akin to "freewheeling" on a fixie.) It's important that you have coordinated crank positions cornering, etc for example. I believe a certain amount of communication is necessary if the captain reckons it is necessary to stop pedalling due to an upcoming obstacle etc.

thebouldwhacker

Thats mad. Myself and my GF were talking about tandum bikes the night before last, I did a boards search with no results and was going to post up today asking for info about them:)

I have seen a few but the prices vary as much as they do for regular bikes, if anyone has any tips or experences post up

@hynesie, well done on your vol work, you sound like you have a good amount of saddle time done, what type of bikes are they & whats good or bad about them?

@Blorg: Have you toured on them? if so would you recommend it?

petethedrummer

How about making your bike slower by putting on larger, fatter tyres, carrying all her gear and other such things.

Then get her nice light carbon roadbike. It might even out your respective performance (a bit).

hynesie

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

@hynesie, well done on your vol work, you sound like you have a good amount of saddle time done, what type of bikes are they & whats good or bad about them?

I fear I may have oversold myself slightly. I haven't got a whole lot of mileage done on them as the group keeps the distances relatively short and flat and I'm only a reserve pilot. However I'm hoping to bring one of the bikes around the Corrib this Saturday so will let you know on Monday what it's like on a long spin. There's also a group spin on Sunday so I might try and have a go of one of the touring tandems and see how they compare.
There are occasionally some good deals online. I spotted a nice Dawes for sale on adverts.ie earlier this week for €400, unfortunately it had been sold.

blorg

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

@Blorg: Have you toured on them? if so would you recommend it?

No, furthest I ever got was around 10 metres and by that stage she was screaming for me to stop. We have trust issues.

How about making your bike slower by putting on larger, fatter tyres, carrying all her gear and other such things.

On our last few tours I have done this- carrying all the luggage and riding in front on the flat bits. It does help even out all right, especially if hills are involved, but you will still be much faster/go further on a tandem! Also, my GF does cycle a fair bit, just is not quite as fast as me.

125km/day for three weeks is more than we ever did and would be a complete impossibility for someone who isn't a "regular cyclist." Would have to be majorly curtailed even if supertramp was carrying all the gear and his partner was on a light bike, she would still have to cycle 125km daily on her own steam! On a tandem you still have the time sitting on the saddle but effort could be minimised.

Caroline_ie

I don't want to be mean, but next summer is in 1 year - Can she not get off her bum and start cycling? If she really wants to join there must be some other kind appeal to other than just being dragged up a hill on the back of a tandem. I think you would do both of you a favour if you told her: Listen Girl, if you want to come with me on a cycling holiday, you just have to cycle. Other wise I doubt very much either of you will enjoy it as much.

blorg

I missed the bit about next summer, thought it was sooner. To be honest though with cyclists of widely varying abilities I still think a tandem is a good idea, each can put in whatever level of effort they are comfortable with to propel the team and both can go further/faster than they otherwise would manage. Nothing about being dragged up a hill.

The weaker partner will still be sitting there and will need to get used to cycling distances.

To be honest too 125km/day loaded touring for three weeks is a big ask even for a relatively experienced cyclist never mind a non-cyclist.

supertramp

hynesie wrote: »

Where abouts are you based?

I am based in Dublin.

I will rent out a tadem in phoenix one day and see. Do they allow for you to take bike out of the park, say as far as the wicklow mountains?

About her having a year to catch up, i think i will suggest that to her, to "get off her ass"... Marco Pantani style.



thanks

hynesie

Myself and two friends went for a spin around the Corrib on Saturday with a KHS Tandem Sport bike. We brought one normal bike and swapped between the bikes every so often. I ended up going the whole way around the lake on the tandem, mainly up front. When we started we were pretty slow and I didn't think we'd make it back to Galway for the Lions game. After about 40km we swapped out the guy on the back and for the next 40km with the new stoker we went pretty fast, turn out the the original stoker wasn't putting much effort in, mainly just turning his legs.

I must admit with about 20km to go I was getting a bit sick of the tandem and was looking forward to getting off it. This was down to several factors, firstly the frame was a bit too small for me so I couldn't quite get my saddle up high enough and I generally felt a bit squashed. The cycling position was very upright which I didn't like and the saddle was very soft and very uncomfortable. I didn't like the flat handlebars and really missed the drop bars on my own bike. Overall it was very good fun but I wouldn't do it again on that particular type of bike.

On Sunday we went for a spin with the visually impaired group and I had a go on a Dawes Galaxy Twin and I really enjoyed it. It was so much more comfortable, it was really fast and just a pleasure to cycle. I had to cycle it on my own at one point and it didn't feel much slower than a regular road bike. One of the other guys there had a Claud Butler tandem and that looked just as good. I didn't have a go on that but he had done a fair bit of touring on it and had nothing but praise for it.

So, in summary, for cycling any sort of distance a touring specific tandem is definitely required. These bikes are very expensive and you'd be lucky to get one for under €1000. I'm not sure how frame sizing works on tandems given a potentially large difference in height between the pilot and stoker. Finally, I wouldn't like to be dragging a stoker around France if they're not putting in much effort, I was fairly wrecked after 40k of it, I can't imagine what it'd be like doing it on a massive tour.