Tandem Cycling - Tandem on a trainer?

Has anybody every used a indoor trainer with their tandem?

Yes, a long time ago on a Cycleops Fluid II on both a Santana w/160mm rear spacing and our Erickson w/145mm rear spacing. You just need to be careful when getting up out of the saddles to sprint as you can find yourself rocking the trainer and, well, tipping the thing over wouldn't be too hard to imagine.

Yes, our tandem is the in-door training bike. Nothing special.

We've got the "Rock & Roll" model from;

http://www.kurtkinetic.com/index.php

and use it occasionally with the tandem if we were planning to ride and the weather doesn't cooperate.

We live in Central FL, so that doesn't happen too often.

This unit allows some of the "natural side to side motion" that you experience when riding on the road so it feels a little more realistic than just turning your road bike into a stationary one. It has a sealed fluid chamber and unconditional lifetime warranty.

We can definitely get a workout on it, it's just not nearly as fun as riding outside with your friends. When we ride the trainer on the tandem, we usually do some hard intervals to get a good workout and get it over as soon as possible. When I ride it on the single, I'll spin more and do just a few intervals.

I forget what we paid for it, they certainly aren't the cheapest on the market, but I shopped it online for a while and eventually found someone with "New Old Stock" at considerable discount from list.

Kreitler makes a tandem roller setup, I believe crank2 in Pleasanton has one for fitting. Probably be more than happy to let you try it.

I keep my tandem on the trainer in the living room. Either one of us or both use it almost everyday. It gets more miles on the trainer than on the road.

The great thing about using a trainer during the winter is that you can focus on technique. You can do one-legged spins and work on your power all the way through the rotation. Start with a low gear and gradually move to bigger gears after you can get a smooth rotation (no-crank clicking between 11 and 1) for about 40-50 rotations/leg. You and/or your partner can do it either on the tandem or on a single bike. A little problematic to shift for the stoker, but he/she can always stop, lean forward and shift one gear. Spending time doing this pays big dividends when you get back on the road.
Cheers

When we purchased our new Cannondale the LBS fitted us using a trainer. We havent tried since. What about the rear axel/quick release having a plastic end?

I think you need a mountain bike skewer and it should fit the trainer just fine.

We tried to use the trainer to warm up for a tandem TT last year and realized we lacked the right skewer. Since then we didn't consider using on the trainer but this thread has piqued my interest. I think I need to go shopping now. :D

Has anybody every used a indoor trainer with their tandem?

Yes, This fall I put our old tandem on my spare trainer just to see if it worked and it did. Not bad. Having said that, not all trainers will accommodate the wider spacing of the tandem hub.

Looks like i need to put my 9 year olds request of the tandem on the trainer into action for him...

' have an old school Blackburn mag trainer that fits our C'dale. We use it every now and then when we start to go stir crazy from the weather.

Bill J.