I'd been doing some research on fore-aft weight distribution on my bikes since an auto-racing friend of mine loaned me some books on race driving technique. Race car drivers seem to be highly concerned with how a car balances thru braking, accelerating, and turning, and they spend time weighing each wheel to ensure there's proper balance.

I did some measurements on my single bikes. I put the front wheel on my bathroom scale and my back wheel on a couple of phone books set to exactly the same height as the scale, sat on the bike, and measured. I then reversed the bike and did the same. Not surprisingly, weight distribution hovered around 40% front 60% rear.

This piqued some further interest regarding my steel tandem. I took front and rear wheel weights with no load and got 19 lbs front 20 lbs rear. I then had my stoker sit on the bike, then I sat on the front. It was a bit tricky getting us balanced with zero weight on the cabinet we were using as a side support, but we managed to get some decent readings. So with a 175 lb driver and 135 lb stoker, the static weight distribution was 43% front 57% rear.

So I was wondering if anyone had any strong opinions on how weight distribution affects handling, especially on tandems. If 50/50 is a desirable ratio, then I can see why you'd want to put the heavier rider on the front. if 40/60 is desirable (from single-bike experience), are tandems designed for riders of equal weight? What's the effect of a longer rear top tube on weight distribution? (My 1980 Kuwahara tandem's specs: f/r seat tube: 23.2"/21"; f/r top tube: 22"/25.2"; wheelbase: 67.125") (Although I prefer metric, I gave Imperial measures for you Yanks!)

Thanks. - L.