NYMXer

ksisler, thanks for that insight. I am not worried about ruining a strong relationship because I already know going into this that, at least for the first few rides, I will be doing 75% of the pedaling for both of us and think that is fine.
The take away here is that she has expressed interest and has desire to ride beyond the comfort of her flat paved trails, which I feel will open up a whole new world to her and heighten her interests and curiosity.
The regular bikes will still get regular use, but we will mix in the tandem depending on her mood that particular day. What I am saying is that she will decide which bike to ride and then I will chose an appropriate route to match her level of energy and interest in a ride.
While I can go for hours, she is only good for about an hour, take a lunch break and then maybe ride back. She thinks a tandem bike (with me as the captain, I like that term, lol), will give her the desire to ride beyond the boring out/back rail trails, hence why I am willing to try this.

moonwalker

You have gotten a lot of great advice so I wont rehash..... but I would not be surprised it you enjoyed the tandem even more than her. My wife is not a strong rider at all but with the tandem we are always together. I can get a very good workout if I want to hammer and she does not get dropped. We started on singles but it just did not work. She has gotten stronger over the years. She is also diabetic and blind in one eye since birth. Thus more reasons that a tandem has been great for us.

Try to test ride some tandems. Good luck, and check many of the tandem classifieds. I just sold my Trek T1000 for $910 on ebay a couple of weeks ago.

B. Carfree

This post reminded me of why my wife and I bought our first tandem nearly thirty years ago. She was a fairly strong rider for a woman; she could ride a double century in ten to eleven hours. However, I was riding the same doubles in eight hours. Things were fine on the flats since she could just draft, but once we hit the hills I had to choose between a workout and riding with her.

When we toured, I'd sometimes climb the hills twice; sometimes I'd just take a nap at the top. At day's end, she was exhausted and I felt like I hadn't even ridden. On our first long tour with our first tandem, we came upon some caves about 1000 miles in. She went off to explore them and left me laid out on the road completely exhausted. It was absolutely perfect! It's still perfect, only slower.

NYMXer

This has all been a great help. I appreciate the insight from everyone and we have decided to give it a try. I haven't bought anything yet, since in my very rural area, there are no used tandems offered. Even eBay has mostly new bikes like the Walmart link I shared.
So..... I'm thinking that for less than $300, I can get the Walmart bike and live and learn from it. If the concept of tandem riding stays with us, then I will continue searching for a good used one.
I'm not sure what other options I might have at this point. I can just wait and keep looking and probably end up buying the new Walmart bike anyway.
Decisions, decisions......

Alcanbrad

Before you go to the darkside (i.e. Walmart), expand your search regionally to see what is out there. There are several sites that will search multiple Craigslist's within a settable radius of a specified location (for exampe SearchTempest: Search all of Craigslist nationwide & more ). Also, you are less than 200 miles from Tandems East. THey may have, or know of, a reasonably priced tandem within your parameters. They host a tandems classified website Tandem Bicycles For Sale, Tandem Bike Components For Sale . If you don't see something there, post a "wanted" add, someone with a bike to sell searching for what price it is worth may see the add.

Good luck and have fun!

Sprout97 

One other point with regard to test rides: find tandem dealers in the northeast (Santana, Co-Motion, DaVinci, et al) via the manufacturers' websites. Both of the shops we checked with allowed us a test ride. They weren't local for us, so that ended up in being a weekend round-robin trip. (Around 130 miles to the first shop, then another 90 from there to the second dealer. Then back home.) While the first shop, located on a rails-to-trails, did a couple of adjustments on a floor model & sent us off alone for "...as far as you'd like to go...", the second dealer felt like going to a car dealership. He rode along with us, which kinda kept my wife & myself from discussing the pros & cons of the tandem we were riding. THAT was a certainly a factor in not buying their tandem (the major point was that we just didn't like the bike). So keep that in mind. Even if you don't like the particular tandem you test ride, it does give you a benchmark as to what your likes & dislikes are. Good luck in your quest.

shlammed

See if there are any options with bike rentals in your area.

I know in my city there are bike rentals that have one or two low-mid end tandems to rent. it would be a good way to get into a tandem and see if you like it before diving full in.

If you and your stoker do enjoy tandem cycling and your ready to get one after that day, I might recommend that you get something a bit nicer than something from walmart.... with that said the price is good on a walmart bike if you want to unload it after a year and get something nicer that is an option. the walmart bike will generally have lower end components that wear out faster or rust that will need replacing as they fail, which is much faster than a bike with a higher level group. I would expect the walmart budget bike uses straight gauge tubing instead of butted tubing found in higher end metal frames making the ride much much stiffer and making the bike significantly heavier as typical with low end department store grade bikes.

Carbonfiberboy 

My wife was never athletic as in talented, but she's way talented in the enjoyment department. On her single she was a 12-15 mph rider on the flat and 15 miles was plenty. We bought a used tandem, a Co-Motion Speedster, which was the right size for us. We had it shipped by the owner's bike shop in Texas. It's absolutely amazing how much stronger and how much more endurance she gained by riding the tandem than by riding her single. I think the difference is that I can sort of fill in the holes for her so that she can keep up her output and get somewhere at the same time. After a few years of working at it, we've done double centuries and long rides in the mountains on our tandem. We're not fast but we have a lot of fun together. On the doubles, singles are still coming in hours after us. The vast majority of tandem couples are unbalanced with the captain usually, but not always, being much the stronger rider. That's the reason they tandem. They want to be together.

I was the one who wanted a tandem. She said, "But I can't keep up with you on the bike!" Uh, but on the back of my bike she can. We love it.

We've taken a slightly different approach to tandeming than some teams. We do almost all our training/riding together. Since we use the tandem for our big rides, it's no help to the team for me to get stronger without her also getting stronger and increasing her endurance, too. That's pushed both our limits and we like that. Not everyone does.

You'll find that captaining a tandem is much harder than riding your single in terms of endurance and strength required. I think that's a good thing. It's something about the weight of the whole thing going down the road which imposes a more constant strain on the legs. One benefit is that as I've aged, I've stayed pretty fast on my singles.

cny rider

One other thought: If she still wants to ride a single bike on a paved trail get her something without front suspension.
It's heavy and slow and totally unnecessary.

NYMXer

CFB, thanks for that, it is a lot like my situation and I do not mind doing most of the work (actually prefer it) since I want to get stronger myself. I currently ride in the A group, but still get dropped occasionally and when I don't, I'm mid pack at best.

cny rider, her bike is fast and light and she asked for something with front suspension (it has seat post suspension too). It think the 700c tires help make it fast and it is an alum bike. Diamondback makes it, here is a link

Diamondback Bikes - Women's Bikes - Women's Vital 2

It is more bike than she needs and she will never want something like a racer type road bike... not comfortable enough for her and too "complicated", her words. The trails we ride, while paved are not smooth with tree roots creating bumps and large cracks. Plus there are some wooden bridges that we cross and she appreciates the suspension. Remember, she is a beginner, so comfort is everything and it's the comfort that allows her to go 10 miles out, stop for lunch and ride the 10 miles back. She has some fear of the roads and the tandem might help her build confidence to go single on a quiet country road....

The main purpose for both her and I is to build strength and endurance while gaining confidence in her riding to venture out onto public roads. She isn't worried about riding on the roads using a tandem, since I would be in control and ride the roads all the time.

So far, I have almost ordered the Walmart bike 4 times...... I think I will just order it today but keep looking for something better

NYMXer

Any thoughts on this bike? Seems better than the Walmart one....

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...ls?ie=UTF8&me=

zonatandem

Been tandeming TWOgether for 41 years. At age 83 and 81 we still ride regularly.
Go for it!

Carbonfiberboy 

Vastly better than the Walmart bike. Might do just fine. I've spent that much just on maintenance items for our bike. Looks like a good bike to wear out ASAP! Might be too small, though. You're a big guy. Probably want a large/medium.

nfmisso

You need to read this: https://www.bikeforums.net/tandem-cyc...gio-build.html

As noted above, it is a bit on the small size for you.

Please read and have your partner read: The Proper Method It is NOT the only way, but it is a good one that works for many people.

We purchased a used Trek T50 several years ago for $400- and have spent more than three times that amount on upgrades and customization to make it better suit us. My wife enjoys our tandem rides - she cannot ride a single due to balance and vision problems.

On the level and downhill, tandems are FAST. You will likely be able to go 30% faster on the level on a tandem with your partner than you can do on a single. That said - great brakes are paramount.

NYMXer

Thanks again for all the replies and helpful input. zonatandem, you and your wife are an inspiration for us to follow. I love it!

As for the bike size, I'm 6' tall, 32" inseam and weigh 215 (not fat, pretty fit at that weight) and she is 5'8 and maybe 150, but needs conditioning. She is strong but has no endurance, hence why she likes the bike rides. I thought a 20" frame would be prefect for me?

jnbrown

Lots of good advise, but I will add some of mine.
My wife and I have been riding tandems for over 30 years.
When she was younger and stronger we rode single bikes more and she kept up pretty good.
Now that she is 60 and we both work full time it has been more difficult for her to maintain fitness.
She has a nice road bike but rarely rides it as I am much stronger than her so I have to ride very slow and we can't do many hills or longer distance.
The tandem is the great equalizer and removes the element of difference in ability. We can do rides that are hillier and longer and more interesting that otherwise would not be possible. As others have already said, as captain you have to put your stokers needs and comfort first. I have learned this the hard way and have had to adjust my way of thinking of riding competitively versus riding for enjoyment. We have owned three tandems, each one nicer than the last. The one we have now is about as good as it gets and will probably be our last. It costs what you might pay for a nice used car but is clearly one of the best investments I have made. With your size you are going to need a larger size tandem. I would keep looking, Santana, Cannondale, Burley, Comotion are all ones to look for. An older tandem is probably going to be quite heavy but will serve your purpose especially if you are riding on flatter roads. It may also need some working on so it would be good if you know how to work on bikes or know someone who does and you can always get good advise here.

Paul J

This bike would be a basic started which you could enjoy but probably wouldn't be a long-term bike. Though others have upgraded, this bike might not be the best as it doesn't have an eccentric bottom bracket but rather uses an idler pulley for the timing chain which might be a problem for a strong rider like yourself. It also has a quill stem for the captain so you would be limited on raising the stem if you push the seat post up for longer legs. with a 32" inseam you might be fine on that. I can't remember if earlier you gave a dollar amount you are looking to spend but at $550-$600 a little be more might get you a nice used bike as other have said. Have you spoken to Mel at Tandems East? He might have a nice used bike available and you could make the couple hour drive down to NJ and try a few bikes out. Just a thought, good luck with your search!

NYMXer

jnbrown and Paul J, thanks for the replies. I wanted to say that I am very mechanical and can make all my own repairs and some upgrades. My limitations are that with components, I do not know what works with what.

This tandem would probably see a realistic 1,000 miles a year but I am hoping for more than that. That is part of the reason I do not want to spend a lot of money right away. My thought was to get a cheaper bike, ride it until we decide that this is a solution to a not so big problem. She will ride on the paved trails but I push her from behind a lot and it tends to get boring for me.

Getting a tandem was her idea and I am ready and willing to just let her ride along with as little or much pedal power as she wants to provide. I think I am strong enough to take her on some nice rides but we live it a hilly part of the Catskill Mountains and on climbs, will need her help pedaling. I know she will want a nicer saddle and seat post suspension. Probably mirrors for both of us and different handlebars for her. She will not like the hunched over riding position, but luckily, she has no back issues so maybe she will learn to like it.

zonatandem

If Wallmart built an airplane, would you fly in it?


Buy the best you can afford (used to start) and that FITS properly for the 2-of-you.
We are on tandem Number 5 and this one currently has 45,000 miles (right amount of zeroes!) on it.
I weight 135 lbs and stoker weights (a hefty?!) 103 lbs.
Do not delude yourself into thinking that you'll do most of the work. A tandem team is a joint effort. Being BIG does not mean being good . . . power to weight ratio!
Kay has ridden over one hundred century events and has put many dudes to shame!
Proper communication are key to being a good team.
We consider our tandems an investment in our continued good health.
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

ksisler

NY: Go to www.amazon.com and search on tandem bike You will find pages full of adequate tandem bikes of the many variations of style and design. Many under $300 delivered. These are cheap and actually about equal to a mid-tier bike in previous generations. Don't try to spend more money replacing parts of it to make it better. Just ride it as is (after a good tune up). More than adequate for you guys to use for a few years... by then you will know if should invest in a better bike and/or different other person. An old truism goes that a tandem will either solidify your relationship or end it. Either way it is best to find that out sooner or later and before you invest too much on hardware as it looks goofy riding a tandem alone.

Senior Ryder 00 

Did you find one? The tandems on Amazon are basically junk. Note the review on the Raleigh - they replaced a majority of the drive train with high end components and still have a mediocre frame set. Follow the previous advice about gett9ng a decent quality used one.

Van

ksisler

Van; The response I expected from most die-hards. And it is a valid point of view. However I was actually trying to help the OP, not cater to the regular {and typically well heeled) tandem riders. And while in one sampling one will find a bike or two that really disappoints, most serious disappointments are either in failed "expectations management" or some disgruntled buyer wanting a Santana or Commotion grade tandem on a $150 budget, fails to get it tuned up properly and then feels the need to vent on the internet about how bad the product was...not about his poor decision making or his financial limitations or his failure to get bike properly tuned up before riding off.

About once a year I buy one of better of the $300 tandems off Amazon, tune it up and ride it for the weekend before giving it away (with training). The general quality of these bikes has improved consistently from about 2010 to 2106, and imho, are today ride-able and capable against reasonable, limited needs---which is what I read as what the OP looking for.

So Van, my post was my suggestion for the OP. I look forward to your post about a viable solution or approach that YOU feel is what the OP should consider.

jethro00

You do not see many used DaVinci tandems for sale. If you do, that might be a good fit for a team where the captain has a lot more endurance. The ICS is not for everyone, but does allow the captain to do most of the work while the stoker is idle on the pedals.