Originally Posted by
Ritterview
I don't know about other stokers, but with Mrs. R the speed differential on the tandem is realized not just by greater mechanical and aerodynamic efficiency, but so too by more confident captaining. Mrs. R on her half-bike will ride the brakes on descents, be in the wrong gear, slow down on corners, etc. Freed of these considerations by being a stoker, she concentrates on the production of watts.
This is a carbon copy of my situation. My wife is a runner, so plenty of fitness. She is reasonably new on the bike. Unfortunately for me, she's a good student and is paying attention to how and why I do things... Just 6 weeks on the tandem she learned to turn over bigger gears on her 1/2 bike and asked me to swap her compact cranks for regular ones... It's a matter of time before she's chomping at the bit to try and drop me on the 1/2 bikes...Fortunately for us, the tandem has strengthened our relationship. We prefer it to our single bikes.