Tandem Cycling - Finally it has arrived!!! Woo hoo... a new burly to add to the cycling stable!

Got her today after waiting 2.5 long months. My Rivizza with a carbon fork. Only thing I changed out was the captian seat cause it was hard as a brick an not the least bit comfy. Took her out around the neigborhood today for a 3 mile trek. Too darn hot at 1:00 PM in North Carolina (92 degrees with humdity out the wazoo!) to go for a decent ride. Early tomorrow morning will be the official first trek. I plan on doing about 12 miles since my stoker is not a cyclist at all and has not fitness level. If she wants to go more then we can go more. I must say that I am impressed with frame quality and the build up. The sunburst orange color rocks.

Good things come to those who have patience!
Enjoy the Burley!

Enjoy your Burley.

We too waited over 2 months but getting a tandem with so much value and quality makes it all worth it that I'd do it again. It rides great and we're loving it.

Thanks! Went out for 15 miles today and it went great. A bit slow as I am an avid cyclist and she is in no shape at all but we had fun! The speed will come as she rides more and we both get used to riding a tandem. I am not too worried about that now. Right now its all about fun and getting a decent work out, that way I can keep the stoker happy which will apply to the following mathmatical fomula. Happy stoker = Happy Captian. ;)

I was quite surprised at what a chore it is to stand up. Felt harder to control the bike when the stoker stood up and I am sure the stoker felt uncomfortable when I stood up. I imagine that too will get easier with time. I often ride my single with a tandem couple that are very experience. They stand up togather and generate a lot of power and speed. They make it look like ballroom dancing. They also have been riding togather for over five years and have ridden much of the Tour da France (Bob Roll pronunciation :D ) route.

The bike handles great. Managed to get the setup pretty much identical to my single bike. Love the carbon fork. I really like the feel of Aluminum over the steel santana I test road, but I like the feel of an aluminum/carbon combo on my single too as I have owned steel and aluminum single bikes (mountain and road).

Before the warm and super humid maiden voyage!
http://home.nc.rr.com/planetthomsen/Tandem.jpg

It would be a good idea to start standing up together soon. My wife and I have been going a year and we practice standing at least once every ride.

Basically I just tell her to count with me while we pedal, telling her ahead of time how many pedal strokes we are going to do. I usually count out loud while she counts to herself. The stokes aren't smooth we sort of pause on each down stroke to stay in synch and smooth it out as the pedals move faster. The tandem will usually start to rock and the bars become unstable if the captain over powers the stoker(sit at that point and restart), but like I said start doing it now so she gets a feel for the timing. Scary thing happened once and never again, is I over powered my wife in a burst and the freakin timing chain flew off and nearly sent me to the ground. If your gonna super mash make sure you keep your timing chain on the snug side.

Cool looking bike BTW, second orange tandem I've seen on this site...

:D

The bike looks great! Enjoy it.

Shnapper: You're not the first to pop off the timing chain by standing/hammering in phase . . . lesson learned!
Mtbcyclist: Creamsicle Orange paint job looks great!
Enjoy the ride TWOgether!

Thanks for the advice shnapper. I plan on riding for fun for a few weeks to get used to the bike. Then I plan on learning how to stand and pedal in step. The counting idea for the pedal strokes is a good idea.

Creamsicle orange... I guess it is that color even though the official color name is Sunburst. Maybe we should have burly rename the color to Creamsicle as I like that name better. Creamsicle just sounds tastier! I was not sure if I would "really" like the color but when I picked up from the shop I thought it was awsome. First orange or even bright colored bike I have owned, and I have had a few bikes in my career. (6 bikes in the garage currently if you count the wifes mtb bike.)

[QUOTE=mtbcyclist]Thanks! Went out for 15 miles today and it went great. A bit slow as I am an avid cyclist and she is in no shape at all but we had fun! The speed will come as she rides more and we both get used to riding a tandem. I am not too worried about that now. Right now its all about fun and getting a decent work out, that way I can keep the stoker happy which will apply to the following mathmatical fomula. Happy stoker = Happy Captian. ;) [QUOTE]

first nice burley wonderful color.

Second I am in the same boat my stoker had no previous cycling exp took her out the first time for 15 miles ... and then 25 the next day. and more and more . in 2.5 weeks we put 200 miles on it. (Sadly she started working again and had a training class befor school starts this week and we have taken a break.

Just wait untill you pull out you single ... went for a 40 mile ride my avg speed over 15.5 .And I still had miles left in me. normaly I was around 13 for a 40 mile ride. My single (trek2300) felt like a rocket ship

She loves it and has even marked the upcomming rides and keeps track of them .. saterday monday and tuesday morings are tandem days this week.

have fun

kelsey

It would be a good idea to start standing up together soon. My wife and I have been going a year and we practice standing at least once every ride.

Basically I just tell her to count with me while we pedal, telling her ahead of time how many pedal strokes we are going to do. I usually count out loud while she counts to herself. The stokes aren't smooth we sort of pause on each down stroke to stay in synch and smooth it out as the pedals move faster. The tandem will usually start to rock and the bars become unstable if the captain over powers the stoker(sit at that point and restart), but like I said start doing it now so she gets a feel for the timing. Scary thing happened once and never again, is I over powered my wife in a burst and the freakin timing chain flew off and nearly sent me to the ground. If your gonna super mash make sure you keep your timing chain on the snug side.

Cool looking bike BTW, second orange tandem I've seen on this site...

:D

Hey Shnapper forgive the ignorance but what do you mean by timing chain? thanks for tip anyway. Pel

Thanks! Went out for 15 miles today and it went great. A bit slow as I am an avid cyclist and she is in no shape at all but we had fun! The speed will come as she rides more and we both get used to riding a tandem. I am not too worried about that now. Right now its all about fun and getting a decent work out, that way I can keep the stoker happy which will apply to the following mathmatical fomula. Happy stoker = Happy Captian. ;)

I was quite surprised at what a chore it is to stand up. Felt harder to control the bike when the stoker stood up and I am sure the stoker felt uncomfortable when I stood up. I imagine that too will get easier with time. I often ride my single with a tandem couple that are very experience. They stand up togather and generate a lot of power and speed. They make it look like ballroom dancing. They also have been riding togather for over five years and have ridden much of the Tour da France (Bob Roll pronunciation :D ) route.

The bike handles great. Managed to get the setup pretty much identical to my single bike. Love the carbon fork. I really like the feel of Aluminum over the steel santana I test road, but I like the feel of an aluminum/carbon combo on my single too as I have owned steel and aluminum single bikes (mountain and road).

Before the warm and super humid maiden voyage!
http://home.nc.rr.com/planetthomsen/Tandem.jpg

Wicked! good luck. Pel

Thanks! Went out for 15 miles today and it went great.

Nice looking rig with all the goodies you could ask for...

Pel, the timing chain is the chaing the chaing on the left of the bike that ties the captians cranks to the main cranks (stokers).

We are loving our Rivazza too! Great bike...

When we first started riding a tandem I would say "one, two, three, standing" whenever I was going to stand, timing it so that we would stand on the left side downstroke. Always doing it this way helped us keep in synch and get good at it quickly (we were also both avid and experienced cyclists - meaning that standing and rocking the bike didn't scare my stoker). After a while it became unnecessary to do the counting and now I don't even bother to say "standing" except when I do it at an unexpected time. My stoker knows when we accelerate from a stop or when I shift to a harder gear while climbing that we are going to stand, and since she knows it will be on the left side downstroke, we usually have no difficulty doing it in synch even without verbal communication. Ballroom dancing is a good comparison. We have been taking ballroom dancing lessons and my stoker has mentioned the similarity to riding the tandem.

If you enjoy that tandem half as much as we are enjoying ours you will quickly forget about the wait.

K&M thanks for the advice. I have no doubt it will come fast. We love the bike. Did a 25 mile ride yestday with a 17.3 average in mildly hilly terrain. I felt that was good since my stoker is not a cyclist and it was VERY hot (94 degrees and humid as heck). Right now we are just trying to get "comfy" with each other and riding a tandem. We only have about 48 miles on the bike so far with many more to come.

I am sure you have alredy figured this out, but it is important to learn to stand regardless of whether you have hills or not. I learned the hard way the necessity of taking "butt breaks". Initially, I motored on the front trying to keep things simple for my learning stoker. You never think about it on your single, but you can get glued down on the tandem on the flats without thinking about it . I blamed my saddle, until I put my saddle from my single on the tandem.

Pel, the timing chain is the chaing the chaing on the left of the bike that ties the captians cranks to the main cranks (stokers).
Ok thanks mtbcyclist. but why is it called a timng chain, as if it governs the stoker? Pel.

Ok thanks mtbcyclist. but why is it called a timng chain, as if it governs the stoker? Pel.

It's called a timing chain because its function is analogous to a timing belt, chain, or gears used on an internal combustion engine. On a bicycle, the rider performs the role of the engine and on a tandem which has multiple riders a timing chain is needed to establish the firing order, if you will, of each rider's power stroke and the final drive.