jp911

Rented one last year (trip to Lake Tahoe) and my wife and I instantly enjoyed it. Took it on the bike path on the west side of the lake and rode for about 20 miles. She was shocked how far, how fast, and how easy it seemed. We both ride, but I'm more into than she is.

After the positive experience I started shopping tandems, but the practicality (or lack thereof) gave me pause...we don't have room to store the bike, there is a LOT of climbing in every ride where we live, and tandems don't travel easily. For us, it's going to be a vacation experience and not a change in how we normally ride.

Ed333

Without first trying a tandem, I special ordered a Ritchey Mountain Bike tandem, in a glorious GM yellow...for us, if I had kept it, it would have been a divorce bike. Try before you buy. I rolled the "investment" into a Wicked Fat Chance, with Shimano SIS click shifters, which I still have. This was back in the 8os.

Kapusta

Did you try switching places?

Clarinetrox

I’ve ridden a friend’s with him a couple times and it’s much more difficult than I expected to get the hang of it. I’ve considered getting a tandem to help convince my wife to bike with me more (or at all) but we live full time in an airstream right now and wouldn’t be able to take it with us.

Bill in VA

I have always found them interesting and spoken to riders, but have never tried one. I think is is a fear/trust issue for me. I once rode on the back of a motorcycle. It scared me as I was not in control of it. I suspect I would have the same feeling on a tandem.

Now the wife and I considered getting a tandem kayak, but when we went to test one, it was out on rental After talking to a number of couples they kept referring to them laughingly as 'divorce boats.' We ended up with individual boats.

If you want to see interesting skills and dynamics, try to see tandem match sprints at a velodrome on track tandems, especially when they come to a standstill to force the other pair to take the lead.

jettabar99

Wow - I could just imagine my husband and I on one of those....NOT!!!
He would sit on the back and have his feet up on the bars while I did all the work. He would consider it good training for me.

Notso_fastLane

I like the recumbent front upright back. That's a neat arrangement.

I'd like to get my wife to try a tandem trike or quad so she wouldn't have to worry about balance.

Mr Carl

I picked up a bunch of bike parts last year and the gentleman threw this in. I have yet to get my wife to hop on and go for a spin.

Huffy Daisey

Retro Grouch 

If you've ever wondered about the differences that exist in bicycle frames, ride a quality tandem like a Santana or a CoMotion and immediately try to ride that Huffy afterwards. Scary.

martianone

YES,
My partner's un-tallness made it difficult to fit in the front.
The bike balanced in an uncomfortable way with my mass in the navigator saddle.
View was fine for me.

Hypno Toad

Our first ride around the block on a Schwinn Twinn:


We found it easy to ride together, but rides are typically short rides to dinner or a taproom. I had a lot of fear getting started, hearing all the stories. I think we did well since we are both experienced riders. Our 'big' ride was roughly 15 miles on the local 30 Day Of Biking kick off.

It's on our N+1 list to get a real tandem to take longer rides.

Cycle Tourist

We tried it and really liked it. My wife didn't ride at all and I loved riding so I built a tandem for a 6'3" captain and a 5'2" stoker. She had a ball. She would never dream of navigating traffic but felt confident with me in charge and our communication on the bike was flawless almost immediately. Something that wasn't true off the bike.😁
When tired she had my permission to loaf and we tore through many charity rides with ease staying near the front. For two riders of unequal abilities their is no better way to travel.

Cycle Tourist

Yeah. A lot of those older, decent tandems had a brake for the stoker. A separate unit controlled only by the stocker. It seems like a reasonable request when you consider stockers are asked to pedal/stop pedaling/easy pedal at the captains command or stand up/sit down or stay put while we put a foot down. The physical "communication" that can take place on a tandem is similar to dancing or even good sex. Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you can get that spose or friend to give up control and concentrate on being the perfect compliment it can be real fun on and off the bicycle.😉

TricycleTom

I have only test-ridden one tandem, but it was a sociable. Even better, Conrad Oho was on the other seat.

Nomad2

My wife and I won't ride tandems together as neither of us want to be the stoker! We do use them to take our kids on an event called the Great Victorian Bike Ride each year though. This is 500 to 600km in 7 days. We've done it now for seven years in a row now with the eldest son starting behind me on a tag-along and moving up to the tandem for the last 3 years. The youngest started in a trailer and just moved onto a tandem with my wife last year. The tandem is so much easier than the tag-along. Yes it's a little less stable than a single bike in some circumstances, but not too bad. Now that my eldest son is twelve the power from the stoker has noticeably kicked up a notch. Climbing is a little slower on the tandem but it's quite the reverse on the descents! I can see the end of our tandem riding though. We all ride solo most of the year and my 12 year old will be doing the Great Vic on his own as soon as we let him....

EthanBixby

We rode mtb bikes and single bikes for quite a while, then borrowed a tandem and loved it. Now we own 2, one of which is a coupled bike for travel. We ride sporty club rides and 3 week tours on them. We love it, and it's the only bike we ride now. It works well for us, but certainly not for everyone. And the tandem crowd is fantastic and, well....balanced!

Notso_fastLane

I really want to get to Hase Kettwiesel trikes. The great thing about these is that they can be ridden independently, or hooked together to make a tandem. I think with that kind of flexibility I could actually get my (non-riding) wife to go along on occasion.

Hermes

One of the problems with tandem riding is finding an entry point to actually try riding one. There are only a few tandem manufactures that make frames and components that actually work for a tandem team. Generally, these are more expensive. A good but not super tandem costs more than two high end single bikes. Lower end tandems just do not work well. Unlike road or mountain bike equipment that offers really good value at an entry price and the equipment works fine.

One can buy a used Santana / Co-motion or equal as a entry point to see if it works out for the team. A single test ride may not be enough.

L134 

Many who typically hate cyclists will smile and wave at you on your tandem.

Ludkeh

We have two tandems , a older Co-Motion and our go to, daVinci Design In-2-Ition road bike that's set up with a front hub motor. At our age, the addition of a front hub motor has made tandem ridding a very enjoyable experience. As our strength has declined with age, electric technology has stepped in. What used to be hilly riding has become flatter with the twist of the throttle!

noglider 

Kapusta the larger, stronger one needs to be in front, because you are balancing for two. I have weak shoulders, and I find it hard enough to captain our tandem. It has mountain handlebars. I'm 165 lbs, and my spouse is 118 lbs. We have ridden other tandems. We once borrowed a friend's tandem which had drop bars, and it was incredibly hard for me even though I ride drop bars on my single bikes.

Retro Grouch 

We tried that for a couple of years. We liked the togetherness but overall for us it was an expensive failed experiment.

I test rode one without the differential and decided we didn't need them. That was a mistake. The single side drive forces you to constantly counter steer and I thought they were dreadfully slow. We couldn't climb some really inconsequential hills on the Katy either. The single tire drive wouldn't allow the coupled trikes to go straight.

One of our first rides was shortly after a rain. That's when we found the fenders on (my) front trike were too short. Poor Mrs. Grouch got utterly mud splattered. Fortunately, she was a good sport about it.

Now we ride independently with individual Catrikes.

StephenH

Of the ladies I know who have been cycling for a good while (20 years or so), more than half have tried a tandem at some point. Some love it, some hate it, some are indifferent. Of the ones that haven't tried it, mostly, they're just not interested in the first place. Generally, there's more would-be captains than would-be stokers out there, I think.

honcho

Tandems are often used by stronger and more enthusiastic cyclists to bring/pull/drag their partners along. As your experience shows, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It's unfortunate that experimenting with tandems generally involves a significant expense, which limits the ability of many people to see if it's right for them.

Hypno Toad

This is Mrs Toad's plan, I'm a strong rider and she can enjoy longer rides without killing herself. I'm totally cool with this. To keep the expense down, go to the local bike recycler and get a bike older than yourself for $100