I've been trying to get my wife to go on a tour with me on a tandem but she has MD and doesn't feel she could do it...So the other day we were watching "Anthony Bourdains no reservations" Anthony was in Penang and riding in a Richshaw, I asked my wife; if I got one of those would she go with me on a Tour? She laughed and said as long as we got someone else to pedal it, because she didn't trust my driving. I can't win, Car, Motorcycle, and now Rickshaw...

Any takers?

What about a recumbent tandem?

Possibly, I never even thought about that...I'll have to look into it Thanks

I have a suggestion leave wife at home and go by yourself. You both will be happy.

This.

I've seen the Bilenky Viewpoint (formerly called Counterpoint - Opus) used by couples and parents where the stoker has some physical disability. It's tandem bike where the captain sits in back on an upright frame and the stoker sits in front (and lower) on a recumbent. It can be set up for either stokers who share in the pedaling or for those who are passengers.

Thanks Prathmann, I like that...she has a neural muscular disorder that is debilitating but not crippling, she can pedal but she no longer has the balance to ride anymore. plus she will have to be able to stop pedaling to rest, I don't know enough about tandem bikes, is the secondary person able to stop pedaling and coast or will the pedals keep turning as long as the primary is pedaling, or visa-versa?

FYA (On the Harbour Island in Toronto).

This was a "touristy" quality quadricycle, akin to a beach cruiser, I don't know if higher quality quadricycles are made, but google "quadricycle" for various manufacturers.

Depends.

Most tandems require both riders to pedal at the same cadence all the time.

There are IPS (independent pedaling systems) which are really independent coasting. Either rider can coast at will but, when they choose to pedal, they usually have to pedal at the same rate as the other rider. We had that on out Screamer recumbent tandem and liked it a lot.

Mrs. Grouch and I have two Kettweisel recumbent tricycles that we can link together to ride as a tandem (The Redundant Recumbent). On that rig Mrs. Grouch gets to choose her own gear ratio and pedal at whatever rate she chooses.

Here's what I tried:

Greenspeed Tandem Recumbent Tadpole Tricycle. It has a "stoker freewheel" meaning the stoker can stop pedalling while the captain continues.

Unfortunately, it didn't really catch on with my wife. So, I pretty much use it as a novelty and ride with "guest stokers."

- Ed

My wife and I could never ride a tandem. I spin and she is a pedal pusher.

What was the special stoker on front tandem in the Universal Sports Channel show, "Share the Ride"? It had an independent front crankset that could coast if the challenged stoker wished or needed to, and they could pretty much keep their own cadence. Front position was somewhat recumbent, and the pilot steered and had his gear controls and the brakes on the back position, in an upright seating and bar set up. Neat show and concept where the host would find a physically challenged stoker for a segment in his ride across the US. I cannot remember the hosts/creator's name to save my life, dang it.

Bill

AIRC on the Viewpoint there's an option so the stoker (person in front on this bike) can coast even if the captain is pedaling, but I think if the stoker is pedaling then the captain must do so as well.

Davinci bikes are more traditional tandems that also allow independent coasting by the stoker.

Even for regular tandems, you can change the timing gear so the two riders have a different cadence. If you ride two delta tries such together, you get two completely independent transmissions.

True, but it makes the bike feel strange when your relative phase keeps changing. And makes it hard to keep both inside pedals up when going around a sharp turn since the captain won't know the position of the stoker's pedals.

Another approach is to change the crank arm lengths. Give the spinner long crank arms and it'll naturally slow down their preferred cadence - conversely, give the masher short crank arms and they'll tend to raise their cadence.

daVinci, an American built tandem has independent coasting. Either pilot or stoker can coast. They've been building tandems for about 25 years. Yes, have ridden one and it is a very high quality machine.
Rudy/zonatandem