Got my wife on a tandem with me today!

[urbanknight]

On a whim, my wife suggested we drive up to Santa Barbara and rent a tandem bike (she knew I wanted her to try this), so we did just that. She actually liked it!!! I actually hated the bike's poor fit, weird cruiser bars, coaster brake, and one speed, but anything to get my wife riding with me is cool! The cushy seat with springs made it better for her to handle, and we rode down the bike path to the bird sanctuary. Special thanks to some older hippy type dude in faded jeans on his debadged aluminum bike with carbon aero wheels for suggesting the route to us. There just might be a tandem bike in my stable in the future.

[vc_rider]

There just might be a tandem bike in my stable in the future.

That doesn't sound like such a bad thing. We've been riding tandem for about 5 years and the wife loves our Cannondale. It took us a while to get the hang of it (climbing and standing are still a challenge) but now she doesn't have to worry about non-important stuff like steering, braking and shifting :rolleyes: We even completed our first tandem century this year at Cool Breeze.

Good luck on your search. Not too many dealers out there with tandems in stock but I know Newbury Park Bike has a few Santanas hanging from the ceiling if you're interested. And once in a while a decent one will show up on craigslist. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

[urbanknight]

Thanks. Standing is one thing I wondered about, but this will be a long time coming.

[thomson]

Brian, I have a 1990 Santana Arriva you can borrow for a bit (a few weeks). It is their medium size and should fit a captain of 5'9 to 6'0 and a stoker 5'2 to 5'10.

You just need to come to Moorpark to pick it up.

As for standing, it generally works best if you both stand or both sit but certainly not necessary. There are two rules to tandem riding
1. Communications. Keep the stoker informed of everything, especially at first. Shifting, bumps, standing, turns, everything. After a while the stoker will start to read things, like a slight pause in the pedaling means a shift is coming.
2. The stoker is always right, always. If they say you are going too fast down a hill, you are going too fast down the hill. This is especially true of a new stoker.

[urbanknight]

Wow thanks, that's a nice offer! Santana's are quite possibly the finest tandems on earth. I'll ask her how interested she really is and get back to you on that. Moorpark is a good excuse to visit my parents and/or aunt and uncle.

[zzzwillzzz]

standing is tough. my wife and i have a hard time standing to climb on ours. but i used to ride as a stoker with a cat 2 and we could stand pretty well after a while of riding together. we could both stand or either one of us could stand. at first we would count off 1, 2, 3 and we would stand together to sprint over small hills with more riding we each could tell when it was time and would both automatically get out of the saddle

you should also take a ride as a stoker so you know what it's like from her perspective. it will definitely help to make you a better captain. you two can also try my burley or you should ride as a stoker with me on the montrose ride or one of the sfvbc rides

[urbanknight]

That sounds cool. I'd love to ride as a stoker some time. I gave her a chance to switch, but the front seat didn't go low enough for her on the tandem we rented. Standing will not even be an issue for my wife and me for a long time. She already told me she won't be wearing any of those "gay outfits" like I do, and I'm sure she'll want platform pedals... for now.