Originally Posted by woodcycl
I noticed that trying to get the water bottles out of their cages on the tandem are not as easy as on the singles... Plus, I only have one water bottle on the front ... that's the main reason we stopped on our ride last night ... to swap out the bottles from her side.
Yes, if you end up with smaller sized tandems you usually loose the ability to mount a bottle between the top and the internal tube and it's a long reach to the down tube to get that drink. However, like a lot of things with tandems, this too is something you'll adapt to.
However, here are a couple of "techniques" to consider...
1. When your bottle is empty, hand it back to your stoker while you're riding and let her swap it out for a full one. You'll just need to teach her how to hold the empty by the neck with her thumb and forefinger while steading herself against her handlebar with her palm and three remaining fingers. This will allow her to reach down, grab the full bottle from the bottle nearest your seat tube on the internal. When passing it back to you, she just needs to hold it forward and press it against your hip so that you can reach back and grab it without having to search for it or to turn your head around.
2. If you can reach the bottle on your down tube chances are you'll probably be able to reach between your legs and grab the bottle sitting just behind your seat tube between your stoker's top and internal tube. On our tandems -- which are small -- I consider that to be my second water bottle, whereas Debbie's are the one that sits further down the internal and on her seat tube. It take a little practice but it makes swap outs pretty easy in that you pass your empty back to your stoker, reach down and grab the 2nd bottle, and then she can stuff your empty back in the now empty bottle cage.