Originally Posted by
dvs cycles
We all have a really bad habit, tandemwise, when we ride our singles that we lean the bike when stopped.
No big deal. On a tandem BIG PROBLEM.
Maybe it is a matter of degree, but I lean the bike slightly to the left after Susan clips in, while I clip in my right foot. Doesn't seem to be a problem at all. I'm very tall, and our tandem wasn't custom built for us, so the top tube is about halfway down my thigh. I normally hold the top tube against my left thigh, with the nose of the saddle on the outside of my left butt cheek. I do that even with both feet down, which requires standing a bit to the right of center.
It seems to me that NOT leaning the bike would be an invitation to disaster, if it started falling to the right after I have clipped that foot in. So I always lean it far enough to insure that it won't fall to the right.
I'm not sure what the problem is in the OP, but to safely clip one foot in, it seems to me that one way or another the captain must have some way to safely support the bike using only one leg.