Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
BB height: I briefly stoked for a Cat 1 on a pretty new Cdale. We were testing to see if we would have a chance in a 100 y/o class. Anyway, we pedaled through some turns on the flat and had the tail hang out a couple of times when my pedal hit the ground. We were going pretty good. IIRC it was only my pedal that grounded, maybe the stoker's BB being lower, incorrectly assuming that the stoker cranks would be shorter? In any case, we weren't that close to the adhesion limit and were glad our BBs were no lower.
So, being a race situation, how was the clearance concern overcome? Was the captain willing to coast through the corners with a more lean angle?, did the riders shift their bodies slightly to the inside keeping a more upright chassis that allowed pedaling just less efficiently, was an equipment change accomplished to lessen the width of the outside edge to outside edge of the left / right pedal dimension (shorter pedals).
I never measured the exact lean angle on a road tandem to obtain a pedal strike. No doubt a rear strike would be preferred to a front pedal strike.
PK