TandemGeek

Your points are all excellent and address the other end of the spectrum that I did not touch on in any detail. Perhaps if no one else steps up to the plate and I find myself not sleeping again I'll write that article, adding in the pitfalls of taking too many shortcuts...

Anyway, the "buy used" approach is also one that I strongly endorse and included in a "tips" article I wrote back in 1998: http://home.att.net/~thetandemlink/u...l#anchor948986 I believe many first time tandem buyers have successfully applied that approach and, like yourself, been very satisfied with the results. Of course, there have also been quite a few teams who ended up with the wrong tandem for their needs, one that wasn't assembled and adjusted correctly, or a good tandem in need of attention that didn't receive it (for a variety of reasons) and the initial riding experiences were awful; similar to the stoker who ends up so chaffed and sore from riding in unpadded shorts that there is little incentive for a second try. These can be just as much of dead-end consequences for a first time tandem team as the super-captain -- an avid and strong cyclist in their own right -- who takes his new partner out and rips their legs off... either because they fail to realize they need to over-compensate and compromise their riding form (high cadence in most cases) or thought they'd impress their stoker with just how fast they could make that tandem go. Add any of these factors into a relationship that has a few too many weak spots and a failed attempt at tandeming can sometimes be a watershed event for a relationship and yet another cyclist with a horror story regarding their tandem experience. Case in point, an aquaintance and his wife who live and ride in Colorado (very accomplished cyclist, e.g., former Pro and Cat 2 masters) had an interesting encounter out on a scouting trip last year and the following is their account of the event:

While [we] were riding yesterday, scouting a route for our upcoming tandem club picnic ride, we came across a quartet of riders making their way through the hogback hills just west of Denver, Colorado. We had been circling a vantage point overlooking a couple potential roadways, when the riders approached from behind. Then a voice said loudly "OH LOOK, A DIVORCE MACHINE".

Anyway, we chuckled and looked at them as they rode by. The faces didn't register as any local riders I knew, then one guy at the back pointed to the front and said to me "that's Lance Armstrong". "Lance" is wearing an inconspicuous navy jersey and solid black shorts without a logo to be seen. However, he is riding what appears to be a Trek 5900, so we accelerate and come alongside for a better view. Egad, IT IS LANCE! From the local news coverage on TV last night, we heard that Lance was in town to participate in a Cancer Society forum.

So, yes, there is a mid-point out there when you can get in "on the cheap" and succeed. However, many teams who go it alone, don't do their homework, or who act on bad information have been doomed before they ever started... hence, all the horror stories and some of the reasons that Tandems get a bad rap, even from "the man" who, as it happens, did own a tandem (a Cannondale RT) that he rode a few times with former wife Kristen as well as a Litespeed Taliani that he would occasionally use during his cancer treatments with his Oncologist as stoker.