Tandem Cycling - Tandem advice?

I am looking to purchase a tandem for myself and my 11 year old autistic son to ride in the back. I would like to get a good quality bike at a reasonable price that I can use with my son as he grows into an adult.
We ride in a flat area and cruise through mostly neighborhoods or ride on sidewalks along main streets.
I would like to be able to attach a trailer so that we can haul groceries home from our gorcery store that is 5 miles away. I am thinking of the Trek Cruiseliner tandem and wondering what forum members think of this bike? Are there any others that would be better up to about $1k or so? Thanks.

Dave Adams

In that priced range, you should also consider the Burley Zydeco.

Adamsdp: I have a soon to be 10 year old autistic son. I bought a KHS Milano tandem and we love it. It came with Wellgo pedals with a platform on one side and SPD clipless mechanism on the other side. I bought a pair of toe clips attached to a platform with SPD cleats underneath. This gets attached to the clipless side of the Wellgo pedal. My son was having problems keeping his feet on the pedals without the toe clips. It only took a short while and he learned to keep his feet within the toe clips and we haven't stopped yet. Whatever tandem you get I'm sure you guys will have a great time. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the information on the tandem. My son does pretty well riding his own bike but the street safety and awareness of traffic is practically nil. He does respond when I yell to stop but drags his foot to create friction. I am going to work on using a handbrake and coaster brake to see which he can learn.
I had good luck teaching my son the balancing aspect of riding a bike by having him practice on a scooter that has inflatable tires. It was a lot easier for him to learn how to balance on the scooter and then the bike came fairly easily.

Dave Adams

A bit of rambling coming up...

Have you tried borrowing or renting a tandem to see how it would go riding with your son. This might give you some personal insight.

From the type of riding you describe the Schwinn Tango, Schwinn Sierra, Trek T900, Raleigh Companion, Trek Cruiseliner, Burley Zydeco, etc. etc. Quality bikes that would work. The best thing I think is giving some tandems a try.

If your son stokes well for neighborhood riding there is any number of bikes that would work. Try finding a local bike shop that has someone with a bit of knowledge about tandems to help you out. We can give opinions, but finding a good local shop can help you in the long run.

See what you can find used. We didn't go that route because we didn't want to wait.

Rambling off.

Used is of course another good way to go, and less pricey. You may end up with better quality components if the used machine is only a couple years old. And if you 2 don't like it, you don't take much of a hit price-wise when you resell.
Fit is the priority, then comes brand/price.