Tandem Cycling - Standover height on tandem

Hi,
I know nothing, or close to it.
When buying a tandem should the standover height be similar to my road bike. I know there are two standover heights but I'm looking at one that has a relatively horizontal tube.
Thanks.

Hi,
I know nothing, or close to it.
When buying a tandem should the standover height be similar to my road bike. I know there are two standover heights but I'm looking at one that has a relatively horizontal tube.
Thanks.

Santana says not to worry about stoker stand over height because the stoker can remain seated at stoplights and the like. Captain stand over height, on the other hand, is even more important than on a single because the captain has the responsibility for keeping the bike vertical.

Santana says not to worry about stoker stand over height because the stoker can remain seated at stoplights and the like. Captain stand over height, on the other hand, is even more important than on a single because the captain has the responsibility for keeping the bike vertical.

Thanks...I was thinking about bidding on that Holdsworth Racing Tandem on ebay...I was late in seeing it and never got a response on the bike size but at the 33 1/4" standover with a straight tube I figured the bike was less than a 25'' or 63.5 cm. which is what my road bike is. I'm thinking I wouldn't want any thing less but I could be wrong. I've been out of the biking world for a long time and even when I was riding a lot (no tandem,just commuting and touring), I was never a real knowledgable techy.
Was I right in not bidding? I did kind of want it.

Front or rear standover height?

I'm a fan of traditional sizing, or Rivendell-like sizing, which means "get as large a bike as you can straddle". My tourer (single) is a Trek 520 with a 25" frame, and I could have used a 26"-26.5" frame. Yet my tandem is a Co-Motion with 23"/18" frame... and I might have gone as high as 25", no more.

Why? You need to have enough seatpost exposed to attach the stoker bars. That means about 80 mm of seatpost, just to attach the rear stem. Also, the beefier structure of the tandem makes the larger seatpost more sturdy than on a single.
Also, as you can't swing your leg through your stoker's face, a slightly lower top tube helps one to straddle the bike.

Frame size is also affected by standover height, and I'm told that tandems typically have a higher bottom bracket than singles. However, my tourer and tandem come within a few millimetres of eachother.


For the stoker standover height, I'd agree with what was said. Stoker needs to be able to pedal, but he/she won't step down until destination.

33 1/4" was the front standover ht. given , so I went and measured my 1976 road bike (schwinn super le tour 12.2) and I think I came up with @35 1/4" or maybe it was 3/4"...anyway my seat tube is 25" and I'm just barely getting the proper leg extension (but am getting it) so therefore after seeing the pics of the Holdsworth , the seat tube seemed to indicate a measurement lower than 25". But I know nothing about the geometry required for a tandem. I think the bike went for @ $760.00 but then there's shipping and all ....
Thanks for the reply.