# Tips for tandem riding



## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

I would like to know if there are any tips about riding a tandem.

I ride a tandem with a blind guy one day a week. It's his tandem, has 26x2.5 tires, 3 speed front and 7 speed rear. Kinda of funky because the 3 speed is in the rear hub so there is no front derailleur but there is a standard rear derailleur.

Do tandems with 700 tires and turned down handlebars have a regular front derailleur or are the "gears" also in the rear hub?

Another thing I noticed riding it is the steering. With a regular bike, you lean into the turns to steer. With this tandem, and it may be because the other guy can't see where the turns are and his balance may be off, but I can't lean the bike into the turns. I have to turn the handlebars which makes it very difficult to turn sharply and it throws me off balance.

I've given him some balance exercises to do from my yoga experience.

Are there any tips on riding this thing?


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## phil. (Aug 3, 2004)

I've never ridden a tandem w/ someone blind, so I'm not sure on the lean versus turning thing. I've got a road tandem, it's got a regular front derailleur that's on the stoker's seat tube and 9spd cassette on the rear wheel, no internal geared hub.

Out of curiousity, how'd you find this guy or did this guy you? Sounds like a really cool thing to do, I bet the stoker really appreciates you taking him out each week.

My only advise is the just come up with how you want to start each time and what to do at a stop. I like to have my stoker fully clip in, then I lean the bike to the left, clip in with my right, bring that up to 3 o'clock and off we go. When we stop I ask that my stoker remain clipped in and let me decide which foot I will put down, and then they can. Call out bumps and let them know when you are turning, or slowing or need a little extra gas.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Like Phil said, let your stoker know what's coming up at all times. I'm 6'3" and my wife can't see over me. She has an excellent view of my back, so she might as well be blind.  I also agree completely on the stoker staying clipped in at all times. If you have to stop for a light on an incline, having the stoker clipped in can save your bacon.


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

"How I found this guy" He has advertised for the past year in our bike club's newsletter (we have 750 members) looking for a riding partner saying he's blind, capable, and has a tandem. He said he's had a few inquiries but no one has called back to ride with him! So I thought I would try to do it once a week. He's about 5 miles away so I bike there, do our ride, and bike back again. Sometimes I stop on the way back from a longer ride but of course I always let him know ahead of time. I've ridden with him once a week for about a month now. We don't go far, 3-6 miles maybe. He wants me to install a cyclometer. His bike conditioning is not the best, he does have a treadmill he walks on every day. We have ridden some small hills, he's had to work but he has not complained.

"I bet the stoker really appreciates you taking him out each week." So far he has never said thank you, I've enjoyed this, this is nice of you, or anything. I've said things like it will be warm next Wednesday, maybe we'll go out again then or it's going to get cold again for the next week, when it warms up again I'll call you. His reply, "Ok". That's it. He has to appreciate it but he doesn't say anything. He's very nice and pleasant. His wife is blind and they got 2 nice service dogs, a black lab and a golden retriever, that I enjoy meeting and playing with.

Right now we both put our feet down because of the balance thing makes the bike too unstable. There is no way I can hold both of us up especially if I have to start off again. I found it interesting that you keep the stoker clipped in. I could never do this at this time. I have clips for my bike but with the tandem it's just pedals and it's better this way.


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## CFBlue (Jun 28, 1999)

I have taken blind folk out tandeming a number of times, and for a year had a regular blind stoker and for two years yet another.

It is sensory overload for them, that is the best way I can describe it, wind in their face, scent of the orchard, vineyard or cow pasture wafting thorough their nostrils. Eric, my favorite and best ever stoker sighted or not, had taken the trouble to learn birds by their call. So where I would be telling him about the barn or old structure we were passing, he would tell me what kind of bird we were listening too. Eric understood the old saying "to have a friend, be a friend" and yes they all to a man and woman, thanked me for the opportunity to ride, something those that lost their site later in life, as I like will, thought they had lost forever.

My tandem rules are strict and the same for whoever is appointed Rear Admiral. Feet strapped in/clipped until I tell them to dismount. I compromise most everywhere else, particularly regarding speed. Eric and I could take a clunker into the 20's and really fly after I got the quality tandem, One of the women, like Eric, was always asking to go faster, even further, Harry liked a more sedate <15 unless the roads were perfect. In the San Francisco are we have a group called BORP that matches sighted athletes with blind folks who want to experience the joys of kayak/cycle and other sports I don't do.

To answer your questions, I've yet to see a tandem w/o a front derailleur, except for the beach cruiser style, even those with fat tires and flat bars with the MTB look.

A tandem handles like a solo when it comes to turning, your stoker is not leaning with the bike, when you lean, he is remaining upright, counteracting your steering efforts. He needs to increase his faith/trust in you, you need to build that trust When you come to a stop, do you lean the bike over like many solo riders do, keeping their butt on the seat? This is a sure way to have no trust from the rear, even with a sighted stoker. If you are not sure of the "Proper Method" have a look here

http://www.gtgtandems.com/tech/propmethod.html

I always tell my stokers that I want to crash less than they do and their part in this equation is to trust me and lean when the bike leans. If they fight me over where the bike goes, a crash is near certain. Gentle turns, like a country road I don't announce, but hard turns, like an intersection or a faster turn on a descent, I give them a heads up.

A last thought for you. Do you have another cyclist friend who could captain while you ride blindfolded as stoker? While I've not done so because at 6'4" I am too big for the rear compartment, those who have done so come away with a better idea of what the blind are going through.


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

I have to find a sighted friend who will ride with me on the tandem. I may be able to do that. This will teach me what it's like to ride as the stoker. This was a great suggestion and something I didn't think of. This is why I posted this dilemma.

I have to teach him how to lean but I have to learn to lean myself as the stoker so I can relay that experience to him. What I may do is have him put his hands on my bike while it's sitting still and show him what I mean with the turning of the handlebars and the leaning of the bike.

I also have to relook at it to make sure it doesn't have a front derailleur. I really don't think it does. I know the chain on the crank that I pedal goes to his crank and then on the other side his chain on the crank that he pedals goes to the rear cassette/hub. Is this the usual way for a tandem?


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## phil. (Aug 3, 2004)

The chain setup you describe is normal for tandems and is how my roadie tandem is setup. The chain that connects the captain's and stoker's chain together is on the left side and is called the timing chain.


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