Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
...When a team is synced up, neither seat will really feel the pedaling of the other because both team members operate the pedals just the same. Not telepathy, just experience with the other person's mentality, finishing each other's sentences and all that.
This is exactly what it's like for us. When I pedal, she pedals; when I stop, she stops. I don't know how it works, but it does. It's almost like magic. (no, it's not due to the magic of the timing chain) And yes, she puts out quite a bit of power. I've long since given up trying to explain to non-tandem riders what "non-verbal communication" really means, I just know that I love the feeling of flying down the road with her going like mad.
As for SPDs, I'll probably get hammered for this ... but if I recall correctly we started using clipless SPDs on the tandem before using them on our single bikes, and added them to our single bikes sometime later. (We're road riders). I don't recall exactly, but we must have used toe clips for a while when we first got our tandem in '95, but I honestly can't really remember a time when we didn't use SPDs. i have the release tension set pretty low, mainly because there's no real reason to set it higher, and as far as I can recall I've never dropped my stoker due to a failure to unclip in time.
Earlier this year, she went to a platform pedal for a while in order to help solve a possible knee problem (she has an artificial knee), but hated it so much that she went right back to the SPD. The problem was that, with the varying cadence, she had trouble keeping her foot on the platform. We're one of those teams where the stoker stays clipped in all the time, except for potty breaks. Works for us.