Originally Posted by
79pmooney
I seem to recall seeing toe-clipped tandems with bungie cord between the front of the stoker's toe-clip and the back of the captain 's pedal. That always seemed to me pretty ingenious.
I/m not a tandem rider. Bought one before our marriage and it was a disaster. 20 miles, 2 crashes. (The marriage didn't survive either.) But I've now ridden the week long Cycle Oregon on my "half tandem", a fix gear. And when I encounter tandems, share that concept with stokers. They get it!. My rider plus rig is cockpit (front wheel, handlebars, controls steered by (waist up) the captain who picks the route, the gear (and refuses to either coast or change gears except when stopped!). The other half is the stoker (waist down), rear wheel and pedals driven by the timing chain (rear wheel, not captain but the effect is no different). So I am in the stoker's corner. No gear choice, not coast choice, (Uphill and downhill are rather different and there are only some tandems I can have the conversation with. The rest are just too fast.)
Pedal-wise, my issues are a little different. Downhill on the fix gear, I NEVER want to pull a foot off the pedal. EVER. Getting a Achilles slammed by a 200 RPM pedal would be life changing and not in a good way. (I would heal far faster from the ensuing 40 mph crash.) I ride toe-clips, quality leather straps pulled tight. Aluminum slotted cleats like we raced half a century ago.
I admire you all. I know I am too clumsy to be a good captain and have never looked for a ride as stoker. Good teams are a pleasure to watch (and every once in a while, I've been treated to some tows that were memorable).
Ben
My wife and I have been riding tandems with toe clips and straps since 87 or so....all our bikes use toe clips and straps as we have never felt need for clipless pedals. We first used the bungee trick back in the day as when we start off, we do so with both of us with a left foot on the ground and then pedaling forward together and hopping on...the bungee holds the pedal upright and you just slide your left foot in to the clip. At some point we pulled the bungees and just started flipping the pedal up with foot as when on a single but that never worked as fast as the old bungee method. A few months back I found my grail, a Ritchey Palo Alto Tandem...we are using the bungee cord method on that currently...still works like a charm. I first added the bungee cords here as I was working on the bike and riding solo when adjusting derailleurs, brakes, etc...felt good to use the bungee method when we were both on bike so we left them.
