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Old 07-25-10, 11:52 PM
  #17  
djembob02
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 179

Bikes: Cannondale Road Tandem, Rodbikes Belt Drive Fixed Gear

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This is a great question, and for me, the answer relies on who I have as my stoker: (these are based on my experience on our triplet
1) With only my 8 year old daughter: I rarely feel her through the pedals EXCEPT when she decides to push. If going up a hill or if we are trying to pass a rider ahead, she will stand up and push hard. This I can feel. Our wattage certainly increases during these times and we certainly pick up some speed.
2) with my wife (not an avid cyclist nor a regular excersiser) and daughter. I rarely can feel much from the stokers. I feel like I am working my heart out to achieve moderate speeds. Sometimes my stokers will say that they were really trying hard or they might say that they were not feeling good and were trying to rest a little. I honestly cannot feel the difference. As with number 1, the only time I can feel it is when there is some impetus for a little extra. For example, if I ask the team for some extra in order to get into another tandems draft, I can usually feel the energy for a few seconds.
3) I have ridden with a friend who is a strong cyclist. HOLY COW, it is such a different feeling. Instead of feeling like I am riding a heavy bike, it is exactly the opposite. I could feel their output big time. I especially felt it when needing to coast. I would have to announce "coasting" or would have to force the pedals not to turn around.

Last, we now ride a tandem recumbent trike that has independent coasting for the stoker. This has brought new attention to this question. On a recent touring trip, my wife and I were talking about something and she apologized for not pedaling for a while because she needed to rest her legs (with the indepedent coasting, she can coast while I keep pedaling). I had not noticed that she had stopped pedalling. Similarly, when she started pedaling again, I didn't notice.

Since our reasoning for the tandem has little to do with speed, I don't really mind pushing the family along in order to stay together...
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