Tandem Cycling - Rear Cassette gear selection

Our previous tandem had bar end shifters which made it easy to determine what gear was selected in the rear cassette. However, with STI levers, it's a guess. For those of you without a Flight Deck setup, how do you determine what gear you are in from the captain's seat?

You can get small gaget made for Dura Ace shifters, its clear indicator with all gear mark High-Low and small red dot moves when yoiu shift. Its small claer tube and goes right above your rear shift lever on the cable housing.
Great gadget for couple of dolras and its light! asl long as you get familiar wich dot is wich gaer than you ready to go and is easy.
let me know if you have problem finding it and I can send you image of it.
Best,
Lescycling

Hmmm...personally, I determine it by how hard it feels when I'm pedalling... that's all that matters to me...

Occasionally, as when I am approaching a gigantic hill.... grrrr, I'll glance down and back through my legs and the stoker's legs to see if I have one or two cogs left.... it never seems to matter...lol

"You can get small gaget made for Dura Ace shifters, its clear indicator with all gear mark .."

+1...it is simple, inexpensive, and works great....I even put one on my left side brifter so I always know which front chainring I''m in as well.

Bill J.

I ask my stoker :-)

Search for "Gear Indicator 10 speed" on the web (it doesn't actually care about the speed). There is also an XTR version for 9 speeds, but again, it don't know or care. Just don't grease your cable first...

I don't need to know what gear I'm in. Whichever one it is, my stoker tells me it's either too low or too high. :-)

Tried D/A STI on our Zona tandem when it was brand new; issues with front der., always had to shift up again or down as it was rubbing. After 3,000 miles, stoker Kay suggested: "Let's go back to barcons". We did. Works great (again)!
But yes, your legs will soon tell you if you're not in a desired gear.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

+1 on the widget. Although you can feel how hard it is to pedal and change up / down accordingly, the widget stops you from running out of sprockets in the middle of a hill. You can therefore plan your change down to the middle / granny ring in advance.

Thanks for the helpful responses regarding the widget/ gear indicator. I had seen those but wasn't sure of their effectivenes.

http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=16743 for 3-speed front, 9-speed rear, XTR

http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=16742 for 9-speed or 10-speed rear, DA

TandemGeek made an elegant indicator with a couple of stainless beads that were applied to the gear cables on the downtube - you can probably find it with a search. i was going to set up a similar system but decided to go with the dura-ace indicator, which is great.

I like to know what cog I am in as we approach changing grades - preferring to only shift in the rear if the going gets tough...

I/we are newbs.. brand new Burley road setup, seems like my Stoker always let me know the proper gear! Amazing.... my 1/2 bike never did that!