i take it that you have not ridden a Calfee carbon fiber tandem. The ride is hard to describe, it is extremely comfortable, yet it is stiff, when you stand on the pedals you do not feel any flex and it is absolutely not whippy. The handling is very similar to what you would feel on a top end racing bike. We had a Santana Targa racing tandem in the early 90's which we sold and then in mid 2010 bought a 1989 Santana Visa as a test ride to see if we wanted to ride tandem. We did and the rest is history.

The Targa was stiff and the back seat rode rough, so we had a cushioned seatpost. The Visa was whippy and heavy. Absolutely no comparison to the new Calfee, it is awesome!