# Beauty and the Beast :-( Help....?



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

MB1 said:


> When we flew to Germany from the US we were charged $165 for our S&S coupled tandem which was in a large suitcase. When we flew from Germany to the US there was no charge for the exact same package.
> 
> I'd suggest that charges are applied somewhat at random. Be prepared to pay and hope that you won't have to.












We got ourselves the hardware that I intended to fly with which cost a little less that your $165 baggage charge, i.e. HK$1000.
Now, it is not the issue of how I am going to get it on a plane. It is how I am going to get my lady up slopes if we find some on the way, not to mention the fully loaded panniers. She is like a big big rock to haul up slope even if she try hard to help, the worst thing is our cadence do not match, I had been forced to push hard at slow cadence, she is not a serious cyclist. We have tried small hills 150m vertical height 10% slope, and I think I damaged my right knee to a centain extent while doing that. I have to turn her to a real cyclist to make the project works. Guess what you would encounter if you ever ask a lady what to do ? :mad2: I know steering her interest towards your interest is one way to go. Get another lady is out of the question. Any help you can offer ?

Need to see more photos of my HK$1000 tandem before offering your help?
https://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=164071


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## android (Nov 20, 2007)

You have to bring her up to speed over time, weeks or months probably. I am getting my wife up to my cadence soft pedaling and then we will work on having her actually deliver some power to the bike. I am riding a slightly lower cadence than normal and she is having to ride higher than she used to. I'm going to put a cadence sensor on so she knows what she is spinning and we're aiming for 90rpm. I'm pretty confident this is going to help her on her single also.

Most tandems are geared low enough so the total newbs can ride up brick walls, are you downshifted all the way to the granny gear?


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 20, 2007)

Me too, K-m. Personally, I don`t try to fight it and just stick with the easy stuff. Since I`m not a real go-getter myself, I have no problem just taking it easy and we both have a wonderful time. Maybe a route adjustment is in order- if you can`t eliminate the climbs, could you shorten the length in order to have less work on each day?

I don`t agree with what Android said about tandems already being geared low. Our Burley has the stock triple with a 28-30 granny. I know that`s low by roadie standards, but it doesn`t allow us to pedal everything we run into. We`ve had to walk a few short steep sections even though I try to keep our tandem outings fairly flat. Lower gearing can get expensive, but probably possible unless you already have mtb divetrain.

About cadence diferences, maybe a shorter crank for the slower cadence rider? I`m thinking about doing that this summer. I don`t know where you are, but Thorn cranks, available from SJS Cycles in UK are by far the most economical I`ve found to get under 170mm. They offer stoker cranks down to 140 in 5mm increments for about US $140. Otherwise, I guess the easiest, cheapest and simplest fix is to just try to split the difference. That`s what we`re doing for now.


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## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Thank you guys.
The gear is low enough. Shorter crank is a good advice.
android - "I am getting my wife up to my cadence soft pedaling and then we will work on having her actually deliver some power to the bike. ", "You have to bring her up to speed over time, weeks or months..." explained the situation that we are in. It took me years to learn how to spin the pedals on my single. I guess we have to take the time and enjoy.


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