I am biased against those 'hybrid' tandems on principle. Either both riders get to enjoy the yummy recumbent goodness like we do on our
recumbent tandem, or neither one does. Only seems fair. Perhaps unfairly, the hybrid tandem has become associated with juvenile or special needs Stoker and I can't fully shake that stigmatization. The hybrid tandem design does, however, solve some problems for the o.p. and his gf. Performer makes a
'Family Tandem' that is a knock-off of the much more expensive
Hase Pino that might not cost much more than $1000.