vgXhc

Hey everyone:
We've recently bought our first used tandem (2003 Cannondale RT-3000) and my stoker is thinking about getting clipless pedals. She's never used clipless pedals before, but she's had some issues with sliding off the pedals on the tandem after starting from a dead stop (probably partly my fault for getting the cadence up too quickly). Does anyone have input on whether it's a good idea to make your first foray into clipless on a tandem? Theoretically it seems like a great idea: The stoker should never have to get out of the pedals quickly. But sometimes theory and practice don't line up, and so I'd be curious to hear from others.
Thanks!

Ludkeh

We were in our mid 60s and my wife had never cycled with clipless pedals before. When we got our first tandem I installed clipless pedals all the way around. After a short tutorial and a few rides, she easily adapted to clipless pedals. I had to make some minor adjustments to ease her shoe release pressure, (bad knees) but that was it.

Our procedure: I get on, stand squarely on the ground while resting on the top tube. She climbs on, clips in. I clip in my right foot and we set the pedal to the top of the power stroke. I count 1,2,3 and we power off. She pedals like mad till we have enough speed. Once We're moving comfortably,we coast and I clip in my left foot. Easy Peasy!

A side note, once we got our Davinci tandem the above procedure became much easier. Once we were moving, she could just keep on pedaling. I didn't have to make sure that we had sufficient momentum because I knew she would continue on. I could stop pedaling at any time and clip in without affecting her pedaling activity. Decreased stress for sure!

vgXhc

Thanks -- that's pretty much how we start as well. So adding clipless for the stoker should work well, I imagine. In addition to not slipping off the pedal, having a clipped-in stoker will help her move the crankarms into the right starting position, which is something that isn't super smooth for us yet.

Scraper

Clip less is the way to go. She has to learn to trust you and never think about unclip ping unless she's dismounting. Takes a while.

Paul J

May wife, stoker had never used clipless pedals but went early one the tandem. The one thing we did was nice to Speedplay Frog pedals for her as she didn't like the tension with the spring loaded SPD pedals.

JanMM

My stoker has used SPD mountain clipless for the last few years. She has many years of experience with toe clips and mini-clips on her single bikes and on our previous upright KHS tandem but decided to try clipless a couple of years into our use of a RANS recumbent tandem. Still no interest in clipless on her bike - and not interested in a recumbent single bike.
No problems with her use of clipless. She is the primary power source for getting away from a standing stop.

lichtgrau

It’s definitely worth a try. SPD is a good start: Widely used, only few problems, other vendors than Shimano possible.
Strange with us, we started with standard pedals on the tandem and we still stick to it.
Never really got the concept of pulling pedals to a 100%. I had quite a few “fall aside events” on my single bike ;-).
On the tandem I sometimes even “forget” her (shouldn’t say that) sitting in the back with legs up
and thinking she is holding the bike when I’m navigating at a stop and take the hands from the "wheel”.
But the stoker is always right and I was glad she reached the ground before it got worse :-).

I think we’re going on to keep away from clipless…

Carbonfiberboy 

Yeah, stoker stays clipped in. I like double-sided pedals for captain. I try to hit the clip every time the first time that pedal comes up. Then Stoker only has to make the first down push along with Captain and keep pushing until Captain's other pedal comes up. Especially important for starting on steep hills.

joelcool

My wife had never clipped in. When we got the tandem I installed pedals that would work for normal shoes or bike shoes. Eventually she purchased some shoes with cleats and tried it out on the tandem. She loves it. She feels much more connected to the ride than with flat shoes. She had the same issue with her feet coming off due to cadence.

The tandem provides her a good learning curve for clipping in - there's much less urgency or timing required to release her shoe from the bike because I'm there to hold the bike up.

marciero

I would think so. Go through the inevitable stop-and-forget-to-unclip phase with no danger of falling over.

GuessWhoCycling

Same here, stoker never clips out of the pedals.

At stops, she sets the pedal at about 10 o'clock so I have the pedal in power stroke position for take off.

Oh yeah, and she scratches my back when it itches!