Originally Posted by
Xanti Andia
Do keep in mind that Independent Coasting does not permit differing cadences between riders, only the choice to spin or not to spin, once you are spinning you cannot deliver power to the pedals at different rpm.
In some rare Independent Pedaling recumbents, as TG pointed out, each rider has his own transmission to his own wheel, so each can choose his cadence.
Not quite true regarding cadence for the ICS system. Since each crank has it's own chainring that drives the "jack gear", by varying the captain or stoker chainring, you can change the relative cadence. I.e. put a larger drive chainring on the stoker crank and the stoker will have a lower cadence than the captain. Much the same as Leigh Canes stated for his 2 BB system.
Originally Posted by Tandemgeek
This is also what most of the teams whom we've ridden with or know who ride daVinci tandems report. Riding out-of-sync is something that seems to occur under just a couple of different scenarios:
1. Intentionally on long seated climbs
2. When one rider decides to coast or soft pedal for a break
3. When one rider becomes fatigued and unitentionally soft pedals**
4. When a kid-back is riding and does what ever it is that kids do on the back of tandem when not required to stay-in-sync.**
5. When riding technical single track off-road and negotiating hazards.
**This is a blessing in disguise to captains who might otherwise find themselves pushing their stoker's feet around.
+1 to Tandemgeeks scenarios. I would only modify #2 and 3 to indicate a broader spectrum of intentional and unintentional soft pedaling (tired, distracted, perturbed, adjusting, drinking, etc.).
Just as PlanetU would not switch to ICS we currently would not want to switch from it. It has its advantages and drawbacks.