[pstrauss]

I have a KHS Comp tandem and I am guessing it weights 40lbs+. It comes more as a comfort bike set up, but I put 26x1 inch slick tires on it and a JudyXC front shock for comfort. I ride with my girlfriend 25 to 40 mile at a time at around 13mph and we are both in good shape.

On group rides with others on road bikes, it is tough to keep up. I am thinking of upgrading and buying a new aluminum such as a Cannondale or Santana Soverign weighing around 34lbs set up more for the road.

What will make a difference?

Any comments

Paul

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[galen_52657]

Yes

[TandemGeek]

Any comments

I suspect you can keep up on the flats but get left puffing on the rollers or uphill climbs. If so, welcome to tandem riding with single bikes. That's not to say an honest-to-goodness road tandem won't perform better for you. But, even when you get in great shape and have a high-performance tandem, any time you go out riding with the racer-boys on the tandem you're going to be doing intervals on the hills while they're yucking it up, and then they'll rest up sucking your wheel on the flats and downhills.

Regardless, serious road riding demands a serious road tandem. It doesn't need to have 700c wheels, but it does need lightweight wheels and a stout frame that likes to climb. Do some test rides on a few different tandems and go with your instincts.

In general, a road tandem with lightweight wheels and narrow tires will always feel faster than a fat-tire tandem and, frankly, it usually is. Most of what kills your performance on a tandem like the KHS Comp is the weight of the wheels/tires (rotating mass) and frame deflection: more weight doesn't always = stiff. The upright riding position is another drag on performance and, as you probably observed, the addition of the Judy XC shock also didn't do much to enhance the road performance either.

Seeing that you are in LA, you might want to head out to Buds Bikes** in Clairmont, CA (Santana tandem dealer), or down to Hi-Tech in San Diego (Co-Motion tandem dealer), or see if there are any other shops closer to you that stock 700c Cannondale, KHS, or Trek tandems that you can actually test ride and do some objective assessments. Personally, I think you'd do better at a place like Buds that has tandem experts on staff and multiple tandems in a variety of materials on hand to test ride... perhaps even for an extended test ride. Speaking of which, Clairmont sits right along the foothills where you'll find some challening hills to hammer on. As you may already know, climbing a steep grade on a tandem (or any other bike) will tell you more about the responsiveness of a bike frame than any other riding condition. Bikes that feel crisp and climb with ease are easily separated from those that don't; they just feel like they want to climb. That "feeling" comes from a variety of things, and weight is only one factor. So, don't be too focused on weight. We've ridden some tandems that are heavy and climb like pigs as you would expect. But, we've also ridden a few lightweight tandems that also displayed some pretty ugly climbing characteristics and we're not all that heavy of a team @ 278lbs.

[tornadobass]

On group rides with others on road bikes, it is tough to keep up. I am thinking of upgrading and buying a new aluminum such as a Cannondale or Santana Soverign weighing around 34lbs set up more for the road.


Sounds like my experience on the somewhat similar Raleigh Companion. We ride with a club of single-bike riders and it's fine on the flats, pass 'em all on the downhill, and then drop behind on the uphills. Are you using clipless pedals? We found that helped a bit (along with narrower higher-pressure tires), and I'm just starting to stand on the steeper hills, and there are plenty of hills in my area.

In part, it's the bike, in part, riding with single bikes. I can really start to feel the bike slow down as we lose momentum that can't be regained. Lotsa shifting!

Dan

[SDS]

The two things that will make the most difference will be fitness and aerodynamics. Weight matters, but frame weight doesn't matter more than body weight, and wheel weight only a small multiple of that, and then only when you are accelerating. What makes a tandem go fast is the motors (riders) and what happens to the power, which is why you will appreciate better aerodynamics.

In the outskirts of the LA area there is probably no upper limit on training ride speed, and 13 mph sounds low. I would expect to be averaging 19-20 mph on rolling terrain, though of course it matters much more who you are riding with.

Sounds like you are ready to buy a new one and understand that you want a drop-bar road bike tandem, probably with STI shifters and Flight Deck computer, etc. Double pivot sidepull brakes are nice.

How tall is your stoker? An extended stoker compartment is a nice upgrade, and the custom dimension surcharge is not much.

[zonatandem]

If you are interested in just cruising and comfort, your tandem is fine.
If, however, you want to be a bit competitive, a better ($$$) and lighter tandem will help considerably. But you''ll have to forego the comfort of suspension fork, fat knobbies and upright riding style.
Saw a duo on a Nashbar tandem beat a couple on a ti Santana up a steep hill in Eugene, OR.
Does a better bike help? Not on this case!
The main thing is: go out and have fun TWOgether!

[stapfam]

Don't ride a great deal on the road, but I have the same problem off-roading with solo's. Whenever we come to a hill, there we are at the back, but on the flat or downhill, we can very easily lose all the solo's, or make then struggle to stay with us.
Once a year I have to get extra fit for a ride that I do, and this does make things easier. As the fitness training comes in, we can stay with the group uphills and then we have to slow down on the flat to keep them in contact.
Weight of the tandem does not play a great part in speed, but the lighter it is the easier the climbs. Tyres once again pay a great deal, and one silly thing we have noticed is that top speed on 26x1" slicks is not as high as on 2.1 knobblies, however, for road use we would rather use slicks for less rolling resistance. It is down to improving your own fitness but as most of us have found, the hills do not get any easier the fitter you are, they just take less time to climb.