Tandem Cycling - stoker handlebars with hoods?

I love stoking on our new CoMotion, but my hands go numb almost immediately on the stock handlebars that came with the Speedster. The bars curve up instead of going down into drops. I have never, ever had one instance of hand numbness on my single bike. Does anyone have a reccommendation for a tandem handlebar with drops and "fake" hoods for the stoker position? I've seen them out there on the road, but never had a chance to pull up next to someone and ask.

might i suggest finding a cheap / free pair at your local bike shop .. that are old and trashed out ... hack saw what every you don't want out of the inside / levers and press on. ... thats what i wanted to do but the wife like the ergo bull horn.

kb

Any pair of regular drops will work.... fake hoods are available at any tandem shop. My wife uses ITM Pro 260 bars on the back. Keep in mind that what you describe can probable be adjusted away as well. BUt if you're used to drops, go with them. The view will be pretty confining. Well, depends on the pilot.

I love stoking on our new CoMotion, but my hands go numb almost immediately on the stock handlebars that came with the Speedster.

I seem to recall that you ordered your Co-Motion last June.

FWIW, as a new bike from a Co-Motion dealer, drop bars w/stoker rests should have been a no-cost option. I'm not sure if the dealers are obliged to tell buyers about the option or if it's one of those things where if the buyer asks for the drops they just switch them out.

Anyway, even though you've had the tandem for a while I'd give your dealer a call and see if they'd be willing to wap out for the drops... noting that the bull horns just aren't cutting it. See if they balk or cite a swap-out cost and if they do, just politely note that some yahoo on the Internet was pretty sure that Co-Motion offered their tandems either way.

If you agreed to or specified the bull-horns vs. the drops when you bought the tandem you may not have as much leverage. However, you might see if offering to pay for the bar tape would loosen them up a bit. If the stock bars are still in good shape I don't see why they wouldn't try to work with you and Co-Motion to make the exchange.

Granted I am not well versed in all things tandem. My question before going to the expense of swapping this out is what is your hand position on the bullhorns. If you are using the tops it should almost be the same as using the top of dropbars and I would look at the basic bike setup. If you are using the front of the bars have you tried adjusting the level of them so they angle slightly up? I noticed that when I set my tandem up for my stoker is was a bit more involved then on the single.

If you get drop bars you have more than one option in shape/form/materials + several more handpositions than the cowhorn bars.
The fake brake hoods are also not the only option for extra stoker comfort and hand positions.
Check out ariZonaTandems.com for round (yes, we said round!) carbon fiber stoker handrests. About $40 a pair.
Stoker Kay has used hers on our tandem for over 10,000 miles and loves 'em.
Pedal on TWOgehter!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

I agree with TG if you ordered the bike you should have the option - I bought my Co Motion Mocha off the floor and it came with Profile Cowhorns so not an option - I switched them out with my local bike shop for $20 credit and I bought some nice drops for my stocker. As for dummy hoods we have bikes with and without them and neither seems to bother my stocker. Drops are not the only option for numb hands - lots of other stocker bar combination. We had problems with this in the past and it was more of a case of to much distance to the stocker handle bars that caused pressure on her wrists and not the bars themselves.

When I bought the tandem, dummy brake levers were rather expensive. I went with regular brake levers instead. Since the cheap Shimano levers are spring-loaded, they don't rattle on the road even when there is no brake attached to them.