rollers

[cmaley]

me and my captain were thinking of adding rollers to are training. has anyone used a tandem and rollers for training? if so did you find it to be benifitial. our hope is that the rollers would force us to ride more like a team.

[SDS]

Tandem rollers are scarce. My understanding (haven't checked lately) is that you can order them from Kreitler.

The last time I read anything about them was perhaps twenty years ago, when I read an article in Bicycling Magazine about setting a 24-hour tandem roller record in a mall somewhere (those guys were going nowhere fast!). Seems to me that they might have had sponsorship from Specialized, after they had discovered that no tubular / sew-up tire would long survive tandem use on rollers. Nothing since.

I bet that they would work for your intended purpose, but I think two sets of single bike rollers would work better. The difference that I imagine would be that one of you could correct for the other's balance errors (if any) on a tandem, even on rollers, but that on a single bike on rollers, you most certainly would have to do it all yourself, and then putting those two perfect pieces on a tandem should stay perfect, because all of your balance would be internalized individually.

[TandemGeek]

me and my captain were thinking of adding rollers to are training. has anyone used a tandem and rollers for training? if so did you find it to be benifitial. our hope is that the rollers would force us to ride more like a team.

You might want to drop a note to Pat Gibbons & stoker Lynn Dexter of Tandem Cycle Works in Colorado, as they have used rollers for off-season / adverse weather training and would be able to give you their first hand experience. In general, I believe they found that it was eaiser to manage that you might expect and the results were similar to what you experience when using rollers to manage your form and fitness on a single bike. Which reminds me, I need a new belt for my 1/2 bike rollers.

Email: TandemDoc@TandemCycleWorks.com
Website: http://tandemcycleworks.com/site/intro.cfm

FWIW: There really aren't any tandem rollers, per se. Kreitler sells a tandem extension kit for their standard rollers which includes two extension rails and the super-long belt for around $60 + the cost of their base rollers. Max wheelbase is 72" and the kit is also known as the recumbent extension. I think they still have dealers, but you can confirm that by asking Pat or Lynn and/or contacting Kreitler directly at: info@kreitler.com