bobthib

Ok, it's a bit stupid I suppose, but what to you call people who ride tandems? Tandemites? Tandemers? Tandemi?

Onegun

Tandemistas? Tandemaniacs?

Call me anything you want but a "biker". I have no tatoos of multi-legged vermin in their natural habitats nor full-frontal nudes labeled "Mom". I don't L-O-V-E someone on one hand and H-A-T-E them on the other.

I am a cyclist. I am a tandem enthusiast. When I ride a tandem, I'm a tandem cyclist, part of a tandem team, usually a captain or pilot, (though sometimes a stoker), but never, ever a "biker"!

MB1

Smart.

2manybikes

I don't call them unless I have the phone number.

bobthib

+1 I agree. But I still think we need a Name.

bobthib

"c'mon how about "long bikers"? Lame but maybe that is it/

Rumpled

Cyclist? Nah, too simple.

Butcher

Happy

Monoborracho

We'd like to find a couple of jerseys that says, on theIR respective backs, TANDEMNISTA and TANDEMNISTO....with a screen print of crossed bandeleros and a message that says "WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING HALF BIKES".

Chris_W

I vote for "cyclists."

BTW, why do so many people want to insult single bikes on here by calling them "half bikes". Tandem bikes and single bikes is a perfectly good terminology. By calling them half bikes you're almost saying that they aren't proper bikes, which of course they are. I don't like that term. We like our single bikes just as much as our tandem, they just each serve different purposes, but one is not better than the other.

Stray8

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Onegun

WARNING: PET PEEVE STRUCK! RANT FOLLOWS!

I wholeheartedly agree. The prevalent attitude of today, i.e., my type of bike, the type of riding I do, and where and how I do it, is the "right stuff", and everybody else is a "fred" or a "squirrel" or a "dweeb", came into vogue somewhere in the eighties.

Unfortunately, it was originally started by some "pure" cyclists", (whatever they are), while talking about triathletes. While it was originally true that the triathlon introduced a lot of very strong riders with zero bike handling skills to cycling, that is no longer the case and hasn't been since the early 90's! Their coaching quickly caught up with "pure cycling", and that was that.

But even when it was true, it was wrong. What they needed WAS coaching and miles, not being denigrated. The damage was done, however.

Now everyone who gets introduced to cycling quickly learns that "smack talking", as they call it, is the norm. Nobody's anybody if they ain't you, on your bike, riding like you do, where you do, as fast as you, etc. Sad.

Sheldon Brown used to paraphrase Will Rogers on his sig line with,
"I never met a man on a bicycle I didn't like".

Homeyba

It's not new, it's not confined to cycling, it is human nature...unfortunately...

TandemGeek

Much ado about nothing....

Here's a better question: Why do so many folks get their panties in a wad over political correctness and always assume ill intent or denigration when they run into terminology or colloquialisms that they aren't familiar with and/or don't know the origins of?

That's not to say there's not a lot of ill intent and denigration in the cycling community: roadies who dislike freds who dislike bent riders who dislike tri-geeks who dislike hipsters who dislike MTB riders in spandex who dislike fixie riders who dislike 'old people' on bike who dislike 'young people' on bikes.... and then there are the advocates vs. the critical mass folks vs. the anti-car zealots. Get real... The cycling communities biggest problem IS the cycling community who can't agree on anything. Cyclists are even worse at tribal behavior than the motorcycle community.

Back to your original question, half-bike is a benign expression that hard-core tandem enthusiasts often time used to describe their single seat bikes when talking among themselves, given that their default view of a bicycle IS a tandem, aka. a bicycle built for two, e.g., "Hey Bob, what type of 1/2 bikes do you and Carol ride?" In other words, the distinction is merely one based on math where to a tandem enthusiast a bicycle has two seats, not just one. It has nothing to do with the merits of a bicycle with only one saddle or the people who ride them UNLESS the person using the term decides to attach that meaning to it.

It's analogous to other benign cycling terms like 'roadie', 'tri-geek', 'fixie' or 'tandem riders' where on its own merit it simply describes a type of cycling but can easily be used as a derogatory term merely by the context and predisposition of the person using it, e.g., 'f--king roadies, 'f--king tandem riding dorks', etc. Of course, motorists who dislike cyclists don't' make such petty distinctions: they just think of all people riding two-wheeled pedal bicycles as idiots who shouldn't be allowed to ride on public roads... and that is of course the real issue that all cyclists should be concerned with, perhaps followed by land-access for those who like to ride off-road.

Back to the original question, IMHO the answer is 'bicyclists' or if you prefer bicycle riders or cyclists which is true of anyone who rides any type of bicycle.

If you need to be more specific, tandem cyclists. If you want to get cute, tandemnistas, tandem riders and a plethora of other terms have been coined. Regardless of what you use, just make sure your audience understands what you're talking about. Nine times out of ten, if I mention that Debbie and I ride bikes in casual conversation outside of the cycling community most folks assume we're talking about motorcycles. While the latter is also true, we find we need to be clear when referring to bicycles, tandem bicycles and motorcycles in those black-and-white terms with any audience to avoid confusion or -- apparently much like the term 'half bike' -- unintended insults.

Murf524

Must first thought coincided with that of Butcher - HAPPY

A motorhead friend of ours refers to us a 422 - 4 legs - 2 wheels - 2 people
Occasionally we're the Big Twin

rishardh

+1. Was on the tandem with my wife this morning after a long time and this is how we both felt. Spending time with the one you love doing the sport you love is priceless.

Mikedrevguy

Can I get an Amen on that one!!!

bobthib

Amen!

PMK

Ok so if the Captain is the Pilot, does that make the stoker a Co-Pilot with no controls or a fight attendant?

Don't know where on hear I heard it, but we use Captain and Rear Admiral when we think of it.

If the Rear Admiral is having a bossy day, sometimes she gets demoted to back seat driver.

Like the TandemGeek said, we use the 1/2 bike term for clarification within our own team and friends.

As for the Sheldon Brown quote, well I like reading many things the man wrote, but the "I never met a man on a bicycle I didn't like" doesn't always make it in my book.

There has been more times than I care to think about, when I was not proud or wanted to be affiliated with some cyclists and their actions.

Just a couple of weeks ago, cyclists beat up a motorist because he supposedly crowded their lane. I know the stretch of road, and constantly see groups riding several wide with no care to motor traffic. The cyclists made their point, appears lucky for them the guy stepped out of his car unprepared for what was about to happen. Seems the motorist has a hand gun permit and carrys it with him. He just didn't realize the situation would turn into him getting beat up by a couple of cyclists. Suffice to say, there were plenty of patrol cars along A1A Saturday morning, and a lot of motorists making sure they drove just to the edge of their 3 foot minimum or edge of their lane.

PK

pablopsd

Of course just for fun there are us triplet owners. So we have a triplet, a 2/3 bike, and I have a bunch of 1/3 bikes! :-) All in good natured fun just for description!

zonatandem

We're all bicyclists; all other terms are justsub-categories; we're still bicyclists even if we ride a one, two, three or 4 wheeled/seated self propelled conveyance.
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

SmackDab

I think we are called tandem riders.

dvs cycles

To me the term Bicyclists means 2 wheels.
3= tricyclist
1= unicyclist
4= car driver

Stray8

We're all fellow cyclists. It's just those unicyclists who are the real weirdos...






























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lhbernhardt

I like "tandemistas." For those concerned with the apparently feminine ending (in a Spanish context), there is a variety of words in Spanish which are masculine but end in "-a": el dia, el periodista (news reporter), el aguila (eagle), etc. But word gender is totally irrelevant anyway; tandemista can refer to male or female equally. Tandemista is comprehensible and compact, and sounds less formal than the more English and archaic-sounding "tandemist."

On the issue of 1/2 bikes, I also dislike the term and never use it despite being an avid tandemista. It has nothing to do with political correctness; trust me, I'm the most politically-incorrect person you're likely to meet!

Half-bike does show a perspective from the tandem side, but I think the perspective suggests arrogance. This is because, as a matter of fact, most bikes are singles, so the reference bike would be a "single bike," and it would therefore not be arrogant to refer to a tandem as a "double." To refer to a single bike as a half bike does make the reference intrinsically denigrating because the reference is not only contrary to the way things are, but suggests a small measure of contempt to the casual listener based on a wishful world view painted by the speaker. I apologize for being somewhat obtuse, but I hope you can glimpse a small measure of my meaning.

"Single" is much easier to say and doesn't carry the same potential weight as "half-bike."

Luis