Breaking Down Some Truths and Myths About Tandem Riding

Link in image but if not here is link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3C_oOog2gc

A good six months ago I was asked to check out a Global Cycling Network’s special with Hank and Si (Simon) riding the tandem up what is known as the “Wall of Doom, “in England.  I checked out this video and the two of them, intentionally or not, point out a lot of truths and myths about riding a tandem bike, especially when challenged with what is a daunting climb to even the best solo riders.  

Riding a tandem is not as easy as just throwing two very good riders on a long bike and going fast.  There is a lot of coordination, communication, and ability to adapt quickly that you must utilize.  Let’s break down some of the truths and myths down using Si and Hank’s tandem experience.  I will interject some of my tandem knowledge in to further strengthen these points.  

Truth or Myth:  Handling a tandem is just like handling a single bike? 

Well, the answer is MYTH, but the answer is not as concrete as one would think.  The goal should always be to get the tandem to handle as close to a single bike as possible.  I like to tell people to think of the tandem as a rod with two weights on it.  If you put the weights to the ends of the rod than when you shake the rod the two weights are further apart, thus creating more torque and getting the weights in sync is challenging.  If you move the weights closer than shake the rod than it will respond more like there is one.  This is the same with tandem riding.  It’s all about the center of mass (COM).  If you can bring the stoker (back rider) a close to their pilot than you are bringing the COM over the bike closer to the front of the bike and the pilot will love you because the bike will now handle more like a single bike.  

Photo with Ben Collins and I racing at the 2016 US Paralympic Para-Cycling Trials. My position is forward and weight is shifted so my center of mass is forward.We were rocking it on this day until an unfortunate mechanical.

In the video of Hank and Si, when they are going steady, Hank is right up close to Si in an aggressive position and over top of the pedals.  His COM is forward, and the power transfer is good.  As a result, the amount of energy they are losing to being out of sync is low.  If Hank would sit back in more of a relaxed touring position the COM moves back, and they lose a lot of energy because of the forces working against each other.  

One part of the video where it is very obvious that being in sync is crucial is when Hank and Si are on the “Wall of Doom” and they are both out of the saddle.  At this point the bike is all over the place and the two are getting completely exhausted.  Standing up on the tandem iss all about communication and consistency.  Having clear and consistent commands is crucial.  At one point Si gives Hank the 1-2-3 countdown to stand but he has already stood up ahead of these commands.  This will require more energy for both to stabilize the bike when not in sync with each other.  Standing on a tandem expends significant amounts of energy and therefore should be used only for very short bursts as in getting back to speed after a turnaround, making short bursts to break away from your competition or when climbing long steep climbs to regain momentum or get over top of the hil.  

Truth or Myth:  Double the power must mean double the speed.  

You don’t even want to know how many times I have heard this.  At a glance, this may sound practical, but this would mean that tandem riders would be going 40mph on the steady aerobic solo ride of 20mph.  Those that believe the above may also believe that a tandem in any situation, is faster than a single bike.  Hank very accurately points out in the video that with two people you have gravity which is an exponential factor working against double the weight.  The truth is that when you increase the gradient of a climb or length of a climb tandems are at the disadvantage.  Hank points it out very well in the video that the types of climbs that tandem will shine on are steady low gradient climbs.  Give a tandem a 1-2% grade steady climb and they will win anytime against an equally talented solo rider.  Increase the steepness of the climb and you are giving the advantage to the single rider.  

Let’s compare some other scenarios such as descending.  With descending you again take gravity into account but this time the heavier tandem will pick up much more speed and be faster unless of course the descent is super technical in which you have the situation of a school bus or semi-truck going down a winding mountain.  With technical courses especially with 180deg turns, the solo rider can react and get back to speed much quicker, but the tandem will out do the solo rider on the flats. 

So, the answer to this question is that it’s a MYTH that tandems will be twice as fast and also a MYTH that tandems are always faster than solo bikes.  In general, tandems are faster except for the above scenarios.  The truth related to this topic is that with a tandem you can create double the power, but since there are multiple factors and forces working on the system this doesn’t mean that all the power will generate equivalent increases in speed.

Truth or Myth?  Stability of the bike is more crucial in tandem riding than solo riding

Bike stability is obviously of high importance for all types of cycling especially for safety and efficiency.  Safety probably pops up first in our head for both tandem and solo riding.  We often don’t realize how much energy we expend with our trunk and core muscles for stability, and therefore we don’t want to be moving around and shifting our weight all the time because we will constantly be wearing down our core stabilizers and upper body and thus be less efficient.  Because cycling is a repetitive motion where hundreds of thousands of repetitions may be done on one ride, small amounts of excess energy on each pedal stroke will add up to enormous amounts of energy and time off your results.

The difference between tandem and solo riding is that you have two separate masses that not only need to be stabilized but also need to be in sync to be efficient.  Hank and Si point out some areas where the bike is unsteady.  When they push off and when they are weaving through traffic, as well as, when they get a very high cadence, they both mention that the bike is very unsteady.  This is because tandems are noticeably unsteady at very slow speeds and when trying to ride at higher cadence.  

The instinct on the tandem when the bike is unsteady is to clamp down with your upper extremities to stabilize the bike but with a tandem this can lead to the pilot and the stoker fighting each other and uses up a ton of energy.  The more efficient thing to do is always stay relaxed in the upper body and let the bike flow more.  The riders will get in sync quicker when relaxed, especially in the upper body.  Riding in a higher gear than you would on a single bike and planning ahead with gear shifting to minimize drastic force changes can greatly help the stability on the tandem.  

Because two masses are being stabilized on the tandem as opposed to just one on a single bike, the answer to the question is that it is true that stability is of greater importance on a tandem than a solo bike.  

Truth or Myth:  Gearing on a Tandem Should Be Different For Tandem Then Solo Bikes?

Proper gearing when riding is super important to maximize performance.  No matter when riding on a tandem or solo bike if you ride variable terrains, you will want a wider range of gearing.  Back in the day, all tandems had a triple (three gears) on the front and this because of the challenge when climbing on a tandem and the decreased ability to get out of the saddle.  The problem with triple gearing on tandems is that there are more issues with chain alignment due to the longer chain.  The increased load on the derailleur and the amount of cross chaining that occurs, increases the likelihood to drop your chain on the tandem versus solo bike.  

There may be a desire to get a larger “big ring” on the front of your tandem and this is because you can ride in a bigger ring on the flats and so you don’t max out your gear on downhills.  The downside to a bigger ring on the front is that unless you also increase the size of your middle (or small ring on a double), there will be a larger jump when shifting from big to middle in the front and thus you may have shifting issues or increased chance to drop the chain.  Hank stated that they are riding a 58/42 in the front.  This would be a super large gear fro a solo rider and probably even a large gear for these two but because they are both super strong riders and if they want to crush the flats and downhills, this big gear allows them to maximize their abilities.   For two riders that aren’t super strong or when the riding will be variable, I wouldn’t recommend getting this big of gear on the front.  It may also be hard to find a compatible derailleur that will accomodate this large of big rear and still shift well.

For tandems, I‘ve found that a two-ring system like Hank and Si have is better because it improves the chain alignment issues.  Increasing the range of your rear gearing can allow for greater range in gearing without having to put very large gears on the front.  Another very important tip when shifting on a tandem is for the pilot to always announce “shifting” so that the stoker can take the load off the pedals for a split second to allow the bike to shift smoothly and prevent chain issues.  As with single bikes but even more important on tandems is having the chain near the middle of the back ring when shifting up front to improve the chain alignment and allow the derailleur to better do its job.  

With all the above said, I think the answer is TRUE, gearing on the tandem needs to be different than a single bike or at least gearing needs to be considered with respect to the rider’s ability and the terrain of the ride more so than on a single bike.  

Conclusion: 

In conclusion, I think everyone should watch the tandem ride with Hank and Si as it really shows some of the unique and important aspects of riding a tandem. In addition, both do a good job of making the ride entertaining.  I would love to get a film crew and ddo part two of the tandem experience and maybe some time I will do this.  Hope you all enjoyed learning some of the truths and myths about tandem riding.