Stoker being able to control shifting/braking, is hardly a new idea.
Back in 1975 on TOSRV we rode a Follis 10 speed tandem; caught up with a couple on one of the bettter Gitane tandems and Gitane stoker controlled the shifting and rear brake. "Why?" we asked.
Reply: shorter cable runs, quicker shifting/braking.
Got into a 'friendly' let's race mode.
These folks were good, but shifting was not any faster/better because Gitane's captain had to relay command for stoker to shift. . . . G-captain ended up yelling at stoker "Shift +&^#@!"
We had a good laugh at that!
Nice to see what is new on the tandem scene!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem