Stoker stems and placement on seatpost
 

In an attempt to get my stoker in a comfortable position for her we are trying to lower her bars. The only way we have been able to get them low enough is to invert the stoker stem. This has placed the clamp of the stem at the top of my seatpost. Is this a problem? Is it safe? It does look funny but the fit gets her closer to her single bike with the bars just below the top of her saddle. The stem is a stock adjustable santana stem.

Also where can stoker stems be found without so much rise in them? If one could be found I could lower the stoker stem back to a more normal appearance.

thanks for the help,

fink

Precision tandems has a limited selection from 25 to 35 degrees if they fit the seat posts and bars.

http://precisiontandems.com/catframepart.htm

Somewhat limited selection when talking about the stokers options. If the upside down configuration works for you, use it. My "opinion" is to make sure you have plenty of post from your seat post in the seat tube. Verify there is a bit extra material in the post above the limit mark. The amount of force on the seat post due to stokers forces would be greatest while they are climbing and standing. If you are both standing, only their force would be on the post, not both of you.

I just use a regular road stem for an 1 1/8" steerer and make a sleeve so that it fits the 27.2mm captains seat post. Obviously if your seat post is more than 1 1/8" this won't work.

As Will-Fam-Reno says, Precision Tandems is a good place to start. When we started riding a couple of years ago we had a specific need for a very high stoker bar. I took some measurements and a few pictures and sent them to the folks at Precision Tandems (Mark? I think). He called back, told me what bars and stems he recommended, and off we went. Very good experience.

I wouldn't worry about it from a safety point of view. I bet the total distance from where you have the stem clamped on the seatpost to the top tube is lower than for a number of other teams, who have the stem flipped up and are running a lot of rise.

Also, if it will fit lenghwise, you can run a regular stem, which wil have less rise, and be lighter than the typical stoker stem, but it won't be adjustable.

Placement of stoker stem on pilot seatpost will not be an issue.
Also Tandems East (Mel Kornbluh) in NJ has a big selection of stoker stems (angle/length/diameter).
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

I found that Oval technologies has a really nice adjustable angle stem that, with the addition of a shim works very nicely on a seatpost. It is actually designed to be a 1 1/8" steerer stem, but is a nice solution. It is available in a variety of lengths. I was able to raise it so the stoker bar was touching the bottom of my captain's saddle... and this is a low profile "flite" type. You can find it via google or I think that Jensen Bicycle has them.