90 degree turns on a tandem

[Ginny]

Hi All,
Well, some will be happy to know that I found an awesome bike for Tom and I, a Burley Paso Doble.
It's used but the price is right around what I'd pay for a brand new Rumba, and the difference in the components and the upgrades done make me feel guilty that the current rider is giving me 'such a deal!'

I had a dream last night that Tom and I were riding TWOgether and every time we came to a turn (there are several 90 degree turns on our favorite bike trail rides) he would take it too sharp and my knees would get hit or the back wheel would hit something. The turns are usually a turn onto a bridge with high sides. One turn is VERY sharp. It's a hard left turn. If you don't turn you run into a tall wooden fence. At the corner of the turn there is a tall yellow metal pipe. Tom has taken a header at that turn in wet weather. I go REALLY slow on that turn but somehow Tom is able to make the bike bend around it!

So, how do you teams get the whole hard turn thing without hitting knees or back wheels?

:)
Ginny

[TandemGeek]

So, how do you teams get the whole hard turn thing without hitting knees or back wheels?


... the same way you turn any vehicle with a long wheelbase: you set up wide and away, then steer the front wheel to the outer-most available point at the opening or away from the obstacle. See quick and dirty illustration of a right-hand turn onto a bridge: solid red is front wheel & dotted blue is rear.

If you're really worried about it (and so long as the temps are above freezing) you can put squirt some water from your water bottle on the street in front of your home, in safe parking lot, etc.., and then ride your tandem through it before turning left or right at a given speed and front wheel turning radius. [Note: The wet spot needs to be long and narrow and ridden through length-wise so that enough of your tires get wet to leave good tracks. A "puddle" will only give you 'dashed lines" spaced several feet apart.] You can then go back and see how the rear wheel tracks behind the front by looking at your tire tracks. That should give you a "comfort level" with regard to just how much of a turning arc you'll need for a given "width".

Obviously, and just like a single bike, to make very tight turns you need to approach them going very slow, even to the extent that the captain may need to partially apply the rear brake as you pedal against the braking force to "load up" the drivetrain and give slow-speed stability to the bike. This is the same technique used when making U-turns on two-lane roads or negotiating switchbacks or obstacles when riding technical singletrack on an off-road tandem.

[stapfam]

We ride offroad and do a lot of Singletrack with tight turns. Those tight turns can be a worry but a Tandem can widen a turn as it goes through anything and everything. Those bushes in the way are just stiff grass. Mind you we are set up for knocks on the front with Full downhill forks and wheels. We have also got used to Bunny hopping the rear round corners to be able to take the tighter bends. The big No-No on these tights turns is to pedal. You have to keep the pedal on the bend side high so as not to ground or hit tree stumps and my pilot does have a habit of starting to pedal too soon. Then again- if you miss the corner by not going tight enough- It is the pilot that hits the tree first so I do have to worry that much.

The way we have found to be successful is to have a bit more speed to take the turn. It is pointless taking it timidly as that means you have to pedal in the corner- with grounding the pedal as the major concern. Another good way is to have a solo on the outside of you in the corner. We do most of our overtaking on corners as all of my group have learnt that you do not hit a Tandem and get away with it. It makes us take the "T" to the limit so as not to hit the poor solo and wreck it.