Originally Posted by
Hermes
Most people think that tandems are faster downhill than single bikes. I am not so sure. In recreational settings, my observation is tandems are faster. But a “good” tandem team chasing a P/1/2 racer down hill who can get in the perfect aero position may be another story. Add in a degree of technical difficulty in the descent and, IMHO, a highly skilled descender on a single bike wins. One may say, what about two p/1/2 racers on a tandem in perfect aero posture. Do not know. I do know that I would not want to chase down a pro racer as a stoker with a wild man captain in hot pursuit on a technical course.
With the possible exception of a very technical descent, I think 2 good descenders on a tandem are going to be faster than a good descender on a single bike.
Couple of examples both from Everest Challenge. 2 years ago, I did EC on a single, Second descent, second day, I was descending with a Pro, who had been dropped on the climb (We were at the same place because the Pro's start last.) Working together we were pretty fast downhill. Got passed by the only tandem in the race, and we sprinted to get on the tandem's wheel, raising the speed by at least several mph. We rolled up a a few other singles on the descent, and set in the tandem's draft all the way down.
Last year we did EC on the Tandem. On the first descent, I was expecting a similar phenomena, we would be faster, but we'd roll up people, form a group, and have help on the little bit of flat terrain to the next climb. In fact, we were so much faster than the singles that we were passing a whole bunch of people. Even when I would slow a bit, to allow people to grab on few even tried, and no one ended up staying up with us on any of the descents.
Top speed we hit was 62mph.
Admittedlt the EC descents are not very technical, with long straight streches between most turns.