Originally Posted by
justcrankn
Here is what DaVinci puts on their tandems
http://www.davincitandems.com/options.html
The smaller, higher pressure tire will roll better, but it will be more prone to pinch flats, cuts, and have a harsher ride. I'm assuming that tight handling is not a concern for your train. I would think a 28 or 32mm tire would be appropriate for you. I would suggest running at least the max pressure the tire is rated for. A Conti Gatorskin 28c is rated for 120 psi.
I don't know of any tires being tandem rated.
I agree, 32mm tire is probably wide enough.
Unless you are riding on a steel drum, high-pressure, narrow tires are slower rolling than lower-pressure wider tires. On real roads, extensive testing (see published reports in Bicycle Quarterly) shows that lower-pressure wider tires are faster. This is because high pressure tires cannot absorb road irregularities, thus forcing the entire load of bike plus rider to be lifted up and over the road irregularity. The resulting suspension losses exceed any decreased rolling resistance on ultra-smooth surfaces. Lower pressure means that the tire can deform over road irregularities. Obviously, pressure has to be high enough to prevent pinch flats.
Note, you have to use decent quality tires, whether they are narrower or wider. You can get narrow tires that are slow or wide tires that are slow, particularly if they are marketed as being highly flat-resistant.
Nick