Fifty Plus (50+) - tandem riding

I'm over 50 and into mountain biking. Following the threads on this forum, I know that we all ride a variety of bikes and at a variety of standards. I ride a solo mountain bike and I ride a tandem. Admittedly I got a Tandem for the wrong reason, and that was that a fit younger rider could pull me along with their excess energy. As I found out, much to my cost, that does not work. You both have to put in effort to make the damn things work. They are not easy to ride, very unstable initially, and to be honest, can be darnright dangerous. However, trying not to put the rest of you off now, they are incredible fun. All the time they are moving, they are stable, they are fast, they are comfortable and they are a very sociable way of riding.

I have now mastered the damn thing with my co-rider, and I can assure you, if a mountain bike can do it, then so can a mountain Tandem. Only faster, with greater ease and style and with a lot more fun.

My reason for posting this is to ask how many others of you ride Tandems or have tried them? They seem to be the ideal bike for those of us with a worry about riding on their own, and are an ideal way of keeping riding when the body starts to lose a bit of its vigour, and health dictates that it is safer to ride with company. Just face it, unless you really upset your co-rider, you always have someone to ride with or to moan at.

Test ride only. Still thinking about a purchase.

Curious though. You ever seen a tandem MB? Ridden one?

Test ride only. Still thinking about a purchase.

Curious though. You ever seen a tandem MB? Ridden one?


Should have put this in the initial posting. This Tandem is a true Mountain Bike Tandem. Started life as a Cannondale MT2000, but all that is left now is the frame--- Brakes, wheels, forks, drivetrain have all been changed, but this one works, If a solo can do it, then it will be behind this Tandem, except uphills, this one is heavy.

My wife and I ride an EZ Tandem, which is a recumbent tandem. It's a great way for us to ride together. Otherwise, I ride 100 miles a week on my SWB recumbent and like to push myself, she is just a casual comfort bike rider, so on our own bikes, we don't ride together so well. The tandem is really fun, but there is a learning curve.

My reason for posting this is to ask how many others of you ride Tandems or have tried them? They seem to be the ideal bike for those of us with a worry about riding on their own, and are an ideal way of keeping riding when the body starts to lose a bit of its vigour, and health dictates that it is safer to ride with company. Just face it, unless you really upset your co-rider, you always have someone to ride with or to moan at.

We had mountain Bikes at first but because one would ride more aggressively that the other, we soon lost interest in riding together. We bought a Raleigh 2004 Coupe Mountain Bike style tandem and let me tell you, we'd never go back to single biking again. It's turned out to be the best thing for our marriage too. We've enjoyed every minute of riding together. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

50 + and my wife and I love to ride our cannondale tandem on good days. We only do short distances around 20 miles on week days and push 25 to 40 on weekends. We like to keep it short and fast because we have other things to do. We started out with the MTB tandem and found that it was not as fast as we would like. We got the road cannondale and just love the rides even better. We help with drafts for the solitary bike at times and we meet a lot of other cyclist that enjoy the same path. I like to ride hard at times and now she can come along for the ride. We have found out that the tandem is not for everyone. It is a Love it or hate it type thing for some couples.

Never had a go on one but would love to have a shot though :D

My husband and I have a Co-Motion road tandem, which we love. We are unable to ride it for now because of my husband's back problem, but hopefully once that is resolved we will be back in saddle -- I really miss it ! :(

My wife and I have been riding tandems together since 1976.

When we started she was essentially a non-rider and our first tandem bike wasn't very good but we were together, we were on the road having fun, and it was all that we could afford at the time. The bikes have gotten progressively more high tech and more expensive since then, but we're still on the road together and having fun.

Bought my tandem to try to get the wife into the sport and that proved to be a mistake, even though we started slow and stayed slow and short. Both my kids did some time as beginner stokers and still ride with me occasionally. My son may soon be big enough to captain me around.
Co-Motion Cappuchino.

We rented a tandem and had so much fun we bought one the same week. My partner is disabled and cannot under any circumstances keep up, so the tandem allows her to rest while I push and we stay together. We end up going faster than I would alone, because when she feels like it or when it is difficult (starting and uphill) she helps. I love it, and am thrilled to have this new way of transporting ourselves and our stuff. As the weather improves we plan to use it for our errands rather than put mileage on the truck.