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05-03-09, 08:41 AM
It took a long time, but we finally ordered a tandem, it arrived (only 11 days after ordering), it's been assembled, picked up, and we've even ridden it without falling off!
We're trying to gradually rebuild our bike riding muscles (after a winter hibernation) as we learn the required tandem skills. Tiny rides... Picked up our tandem Thursday (3 days ago) after work, stopped at an easy trail around a park, with a goal of about a mile, just to see what happened.
You see, we are not expert bike riders, though we did a bit of riding last summer. I have a Trek Navigator, and my wife rides a Trek Three Wheeler. She has a balance problem, or so she thinks, and doesn't ride a two wheeled bike.
Sounds like potential tandem riding problems?
Amazingly, the first ride (2 miles, instead of the planned "about a mile") went much much better than expected. Yesterday we did 4+ miles, and had fun, though we had mechanical problems, the front chain came loose and fell off. Luckily for us a rider stopped by with the tools and knowledge and did a bit of adjusting and tightening, and he said it should get us back to our car, and recommended a trip back to the bike shop for the proper settings.
Anyhow, the bike shop took good care of our tandem, though we haven't taken it back out since we were at the bike shop/store yesterday. While at the bike shop, my wife complained about her handlebars width and height, and the service manager swapped them out for a new pair that fit her better. That's her "old" handlebars in the picture.
What took us so long to actually get a tandem? Mainly it was tandem size. We're short, and we finally decided on the pictured Cannondale Street Tandem, in a Medium/Small. Transporting the tandem on our car was a big concern, too. We finally decided not to let that stop us, and here is a picture showing the tandem on our car.
After our grand total of 6 miles on our new tandem, we have discovered that we are a pretty good team for brand new tandem riders, it turns out our main concerns are building up our stamina, and either adapting to the seats,or replacing them.
The expected problems of not working as a team and my wife balance problems just didn't happen! I do wish I was a bit more limber, getting my leg over the frame when mounting (and getting off) is a bit of a stretch, but the ride is worth it.
We're trying to gradually rebuild our bike riding muscles (after a winter hibernation) as we learn the required tandem skills. Tiny rides... Picked up our tandem Thursday (3 days ago) after work, stopped at an easy trail around a park, with a goal of about a mile, just to see what happened.
You see, we are not expert bike riders, though we did a bit of riding last summer. I have a Trek Navigator, and my wife rides a Trek Three Wheeler. She has a balance problem, or so she thinks, and doesn't ride a two wheeled bike.
Sounds like potential tandem riding problems?
Amazingly, the first ride (2 miles, instead of the planned "about a mile") went much much better than expected. Yesterday we did 4+ miles, and had fun, though we had mechanical problems, the front chain came loose and fell off. Luckily for us a rider stopped by with the tools and knowledge and did a bit of adjusting and tightening, and he said it should get us back to our car, and recommended a trip back to the bike shop for the proper settings.
Anyhow, the bike shop took good care of our tandem, though we haven't taken it back out since we were at the bike shop/store yesterday. While at the bike shop, my wife complained about her handlebars width and height, and the service manager swapped them out for a new pair that fit her better. That's her "old" handlebars in the picture.
What took us so long to actually get a tandem? Mainly it was tandem size. We're short, and we finally decided on the pictured Cannondale Street Tandem, in a Medium/Small. Transporting the tandem on our car was a big concern, too. We finally decided not to let that stop us, and here is a picture showing the tandem on our car.
After our grand total of 6 miles on our new tandem, we have discovered that we are a pretty good team for brand new tandem riders, it turns out our main concerns are building up our stamina, and either adapting to the seats,or replacing them.
The expected problems of not working as a team and my wife balance problems just didn't happen! I do wish I was a bit more limber, getting my leg over the frame when mounting (and getting off) is a bit of a stretch, but the ride is worth it.