Tandem Cycling - Tires???

Two years ago I purchased a tandem bike to try to get my autistic son who was 11 and 35 pounds lighter interested in activities more than television and indoor in home training. He likes to get out and ride but not for great distances. We ride mainly in the neighborhood and ocassionally through the woods in the San Antonio hill country area. The bike has 26" x 2.125 tires with a rating of 50 psi (198# max). Our combined weight is 170# for myself and 108# for Nick, who is a non stroker. Is that rating a total or do you combine the two tires together. The tires seem to be soft and not fit for the off road. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Life is Great

Patrick

We ride Schwalbe Marathon Racer 26 x 1.5 at 100 lbs, with a 310 lbs team. We leave the pavement at times and we do OK, though they are more of a road touring tire.

I don't think I would run anything less than 80 lbs on a tandem, even off road. 50 lbs seems very low to me, even though at 2.125 width you can run lower pressures and have a softer ride. To soften the ride on your stoker you might consider a suspension seat post if you don't have one.

Tire ratings are usually for each tire. A manufacturer cannot know how many tires you will be using and for what application. So in theory it would be 198 max per tire for a total of 396#. There are other variables but this is a maximum rating at the given tire pressure.