Tandem Style – The Pros and Cons of Sharing a Bicycle
They say that whatever direction your relationship is heading, a tandem will get you there faster. Now that Andrew and I have had our tandem for three years, I hope it’s safe to say that our relationship is in pretty good shape (hopefully that doesn’t change after our big tour this summer!)
Since we get a lot of different reactions when we tell people about our tandem, I thought I’d share some of our biggest pros and cons. I want to point out, that while my con list may be longer, the pros do outweigh the cons!
Pros
Speed
Twice the people, means twice the power. We can go so fast on the tandem – especially on the downhills with all the weight!
Vroom Vroom!
Encouragement
Since the pedals on the tandem are connected when one person steps up their game, it’s a nice little push the other person receives. Therefore, on the tandem, you can encourage the other person simply by pedaling extra hard. That little push is often all the other needs for a little motivation. You can also easily add in a pep talk. From first hand experience, when you pedal harder or give pep talks from a separate single bike, the tired person tends to be annoyed rather than encouraged.
Chit Chat
Since we’re so close to each other on the tandem it’s so easy to talk to each other. On the single bikes you often have to make an effort to get up next to the other person – or shout really loud if you want to say anything, but on the tandem, the other person is just there. It makes it really easy to have actual conversations.
"Woooah Double Bike"
I absolutely love the surprise and excitement people (not just children) have when they see our bike. Although, tandems are more popular in Portland, so we don’t get the good comments as much as we used to.
Keeping Track of Each Other
On the tandem we can’t lose each other – well really I should say Andrew can’t lose me. Cause ‘where he leads, I will follow’ (said in sing-songy voice).
On the single bikes, the leader tends to run yellow lights or make a last minute turn not giving the other person enough time to react. On the tandem, the stoker has no way of missing the light or turn.
It's Fun
It’s just a fun bike to ride, and who doesn’t want a little extra whimsy in their life?
Bug Sheild
So this pro only applies to the stoker, but it’s great! No more swarms of gnats in the face, because you have your very own personal bug shield knocking them out for you!
Cons
Manueverability
The tandem is just so long, it makes maneuvering it a bit harder – both on and off the bike. Tight turns and narrow doorways are the bane of our existence.
The stoker also has to be a master of “go with the flow” allowing their weight to follow the bike to keep from fishtailing the captain off balance. Luckily I’m excellent at this.
Storage of the Bike
Tandems are big, there’s no way around it. Back in our condo in Kansas City we had to keep it in our upstairs bedroom. It was always a hassle carrying it up the stairs, and having to “K” turn it through bathrooms/hallways. And now, “where can we store the tandem” is at the front of our minds as we hunt for apartments/rental spaces in Portland.
Our tandem does fold, which is nice in a pinch, but folding it up is not as convenient as we had hoped.
Storage on the Bike
2 people on 1 bike means we have half the amount of space as most other bikepackers. I suppose the silver lining is that it’s harder to overpack?
We did consider getting a trailer, and a lot of tandem tourers do, but we didn’t want to add to our already long length. I think we’ve gotten a pretty good system down for storing all our stuff – who knows, maybe we’ll still find that we overpacked!
Personal Space
It’s a lot harder to get that alone time when your tandem partner is always there, just inches away.
Communication is key – i.e. the captain telling the stoker to shut up, and the stoker not being offended by the captains need for silence.
Point A to Point B
Any non riding transportation is definitely more complicated with a tandem. Busses, and trains often won’t let them on. And it’s a lot harder to hitch-hike across a busy bridge or similar since few trucks have the space to hold the tandem.
Luckily our Bike Friday tandem folds, so we can fit it in places in a pinch, but especially with all our paniers, it’s not exactly the easiest, most convenient thing to do.
Annoying Comments
I’m soooo tired of hearing “she’s not pedaling”. I usually give half hearted polite laugh, but seriously we all know that I’m pedaling in the back.
(I’m totally open to any excellent comebacks if you have any, because seriously, we get this comment a lot – so please share!)
No "Swooping"
This one’s on Andrew’s con list, apparently it’s a lot harder to “swoop” with the tandem (basically swerve around on the bike like a maniac). On top of the added difficulty, his stoker (so me) doesn’t like it when he does “swoop”.
Overexertion
Since you have the other person there to help, it’s really easy to push yourself too hard for too long. On a single bike there’s no one to help, so you stop and break when you need to. On the tandem you tend to think, ‘well I’ll just rely on the other person a little more’, but then you forget to take those important breaks and end up more tired and more likely to hurt yourself overall.
Views
The stoker sees a LOT of the back of the captains head. Which really means that the stoker often looks to the side instead of forward. This leads to a lot of last minute “ooh stop!” which can get annoying for the captain, but he can’t complain too much since his head was the thing blocking it from view until the last second.
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