tomljones3

My wife and I tandem newbies. We have a used Trek that we ride occasionally, but it doesn't really fit me very well. We are also competitive triathletes. We are looking for ways to spend more time together on workouts and I was wondering if there was a way to do it on a tandem?

Here is my idea, we have interval workouts twice a week. They are quite taxing and trying to perform the intervals and cooperate on a traditional tandem sounds like misery. The workouts are identical, but obviously our power output is very different.

• If we got a da Vinci tandem with the integrated coasting, would it make workouts feasible?
• Is anyone else out there doing structured workouts on the tandem?

merlinextraligh

We do. IMHO, the key is power meter pedals for both of you. That allows you to both hit your zones for the intervals.

I think the Davinci system is the exact opposite of what you’re looking for. It allows independent coasting; it doesn’t allow you to both produce power at difference cadences.

for example if the captain’s cadence is higher than the stoker’s, the stoker is basically freewheeling.

ICs tends to work well with a team of mixed abilities and ambitions; it’s an unnecessary and counterproductive complication for your application.

merlinextraligh

We’ve trained on the tandem for a number of events with some success ( two time s Florida State time trial champions, podium finish at Masters Nationals.)

even when my goals were more individual, doing road racing, gravel races and crits, most of my training was often done on a tandem.

As long as you two can reach an acceptable agreed cadence, and both are willing to work for the same length of time, it doesn’t matter if one is stronger than the other. If you both put out the effort levels proscribed for the interval, even if your power outputs are different, you’ll be fine.

And again power meters will be very helpful for both of you to hit your prescribed zones

dmwill

We are by no means training for anything, but for touring and just riding around have found shortening her cranks have made it much easier for us to contribute evenly. When we both had 175mm, she would freewheel and maybe bounce at >80RPM. Her comfortable and productive cadence was about 65. Now that she has 155mm cranks we produce equally (measured by HR zones) at 75-80RPM. If she needs a break we can just spin up a little faster and I carry more. If I need a break we go back down to 65-70 and she carries more. Those cranks were certainly worth it.

TobyGadd

Equal effort and/or power aren't necessary on a tandem, as long as you can settle on a compatible cadence. So, yes, interval training on a tandem is possible. The only time I see it being difficult is if the interval durations are different for each rider, and if coasting between intervals is necessary. But why coast? Just soft-pedal until recovered, and then repeat--you don't really need to have the same interval duration or spacing.

Carbonfiberboy 

Totally agree with the power pedals thing. We use HR instead, but really wish we had the power pedals. We just don't want to invest that much money in it. We train on our tandem all the time. When we're riding, we're training, except when we're doing an event or touring, which is what the training was for. Whether power pedals or using HR, stoker sees both pedal sets or HRs, captain only needs to see his. Then the stoker always knows what to do, how hard to work, depending on the crazy captain and the terrain. We rode RAMROD on our tandem at 66 and 69, did the one-day STP a couple times.

You absolutely have to do the intervals together! Sure wouldn't be fun without that cooperation. Actually, we seldom do formal intervals on the tandem. It's the only bike we ride outside and we live in a hilly part of the country, so we do our intervals by hammering the hills - and sometimes on the flat too, depending on mood. We do formal intervals and long Z2 periods on our trainer and rollers indoors. That's mostly when it's raining or snowing. It's a lot more fun to go out on the tandem and slaughter ourselves and each other.

My stoker has 151mm cranks. Appropriately sized cranks are definitely a good idea.