jfarwell

Second favorite was a little 3 year girl who just looked at us and in a voice of wonder said "she pedals?"

Favorite happens from time to time while riding on our regular long, straight and narrow gravel path through the bush (lots of walkers). I'm a thin guy, but stoker fits nicely behind me. Always lots of talking and laughing between us. Tandem looks like a single from the front, and at first glance folks think I'm a crazy guy on a bike who talks to himself. No need for comments from the walkers. The look of relief when they see Melinda, speaks volumes. The regulars know us and always have warm smiles.

Joe

MNBikeCommuter

My daughter's been my primary stoker, and we've heard the same lame comments over and over again. ("She's not pedaling!", etc. :-) One that took us by surprise this summer was "That bike is tight!" And I've never been asked how much the tandem costs. Go figure!

A few years ago on an organized week long ride with my father as stoker, he had to take a day off because of a heart condition (a-fib). I rode alone and counted 27 "predictable" comments, until one fellow passed me with, "So. You and your dad had a big fight??"

This summer on the same ride, with my daughter as stoker, we had a tail wind on the flats one day, and were blowing by everyone. One "victim" yelled out, "Slow down! There's a cop with a radar gun up ahead!"

waynesulak

Occasional an original comment shines through. Once a young race team member in his sponsor kit commented as he passed that we we especially skilled at maintaining a coordinated cadence. I didn't have the inclination to explain the timing chain and just said, thanks!

mwandaw

Doesn't your head hurt when she (the stoker) hits you like that?

Machka 

We had an odd one on our ride on Saturday ... a man stood on a street corner and yelled, "I hope you aren't going far!"


Not sure how to explain that comment! I was puffing a little because we were climbing a hill just then ... maybe I looked a bit tired??

Rowan shouted back, "If only you knew!" We were about 160 km into a 300 km randonnee.

Biketothestars

Two Nerds on a Tandem

Two nerds are riding along on a tandem, when suddenly, the one on the front slams on the brakes, gets off and starts letting air out of the tires.
The one on the back says: "HEY! What are you doing that for!?"
The first nerd says, "My seat was too high and was hurting my butt. I wanted to lower it a bit."
So the one in the back has had enought. He jumps off, loosens his own seat and spins it round to face the other direction.
Now it's the first guy's turn to wonder what's going on. "What are you doing?" he asks his friend.
"Look mate," says the rider in the back, "if you're going to do stupid stuff like that, I'm going home!!"

robinharrison88

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned this shouted from the public:

"Can you ride tandem?"

I get it 75% of the time and it confused me (and stokes) for ages as it was obvious we could ride tandem because it was what we were doing. Thankfully my mum worked it out. It turns out that in the UK in 1971 (17 years before I was born) there was a popular PG Tips (Tea) advert with chimps in the TDF. The very last line is "Can you ride tandem?" as one chimp trys to chat up another.
I am amazed to think that this one really old advert had such a lasting impression that nearly 40 years on people remember it. Also I'm from Yorkshire and we're big tea drinkers I suppose...

I have tried to post a YouTube link but if it doesn't work and you want to see the advert; try "PG Tips tandem"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbvq-kZMWIA

tandemedge

The comments seem to be universal with "she's not pedaling" on the top of the list. We had an experience a number of years ago where we gave a comment to a single bike ... "half bike" as I like to say. Getting off the ferry at Point Judith, RI on our return from Block Island we pulled up next to a police officer on a bike. He glanced at me (captain) then back at my wife (stoker). Before he could make a comment I said ... "you really have to do something about that bike ... I turbo charged mine." It was a great intro to ask for information. We ended up talking for 15 minutes about bikes and best bike routes in the area.
We find the tandems (we have two) to be a great way to meet people at events, weekly rides or while traveling. I pull up at a corner store on a single bike and I'm just some old fitness freak on a bike ... stop with a tandem and the two of us become folks that people want to talk too and ask questions about the bike and cycling. We find people ask more questions and listen better (even those elected folks) when you are on a tandem. We seem to be the approachable cyclists in lycra. So use your tandem to communicate and make cycling better for all ... even the half bikers.
As far as how much does it cost, that's a common question (I agree with Tandem Geek), the answer is ... less than a heart triple by pass and more than a single. Fun cannot be measured in dollars and cents but in value added to life.

mtnbke

I've been told my tandem looks like a frankenbike.

25" (63.5cm) Captain's compartment built up to fit more like a 68/69cm bike. Between the post and the ridiculous stem (still with considerable saddle to bar drop) the bike just looks ridiculous.

ScottStr

I'm not a tandem rider, but a fat roadie. What I always say to tandem riders is "I couldn't do that. My wife doesn't trust me to go the right places."

Carbonfiberboy 

My favorite comment is "Lucky!" Usually shouted by a walking male to me (captain) as Nancy and I go by. So true.

mtnbke

You know, in the context of this thread, this comment is interesting. I don't think its half as rude for a stranger, who may have no context for cycling or tandems to ask how much a tandem, or even my tandem cost.

However, I strongly have always felt that the posting behavior of certain frequent tandem forum members constantly touting their latest greatest components to be very poor form. Context being key, in that they are essentially being showy to a learned audience.

Two sides to coin, I guess.

TandemGeek

Yup, for every vice there's a virtue:

Lust vs. Chastity
Gluttony vs. Temperance
Greed vs. Charity
Sloth vs. Diligence
Anger vs. Patience
Envy vs. Kindness
Pride vs. Humility

We're all guilty of certain vices from time-to-time, while also exhibiting many virtues, subject to the very nature of free-will.

Frankly, it would be a pretty dull world (and forums wouldn't exist) if that weren't so.

Retro Grouch 

In 34 years of riding tandems I can't count how often we'd heard that. It's probably in the thousands. Because of that we found this variation amusing:

Our new Rans Screamer has independent coasting. I stopped pedaling briefly while negotiating a gate on the Katy Trail and simultaneously passing a couple going the opposite direction on singles. The man ratted me out to my wife "Hey! He's not doing anything."

oregontrail

We have had many comments, all have been positive. We also get a lot of questions at organized events about cost and how we work together. We aren't offended by questions about cost, after all many are curious, wanting to find out if it is something they can afford. We prefer to focus on the importance of communication, and how having the tandem has helped improve our communication. Since we have a tandem with ICS, experienced bikers have lots of questions about how we like it.

PMK

While riding one of the mountain tandems this weekend, we were passing a family that had stopped to regroup or rest a moment.

We got the "Look, a two wheeled bike" from the youngest one. Commented back, how he has a two wheel bike also, heard the dad explaining as we rolled away

PK

JanMM

That's great! Of course, I would have had no chance of having any idea what that referred to.

blamp28

Thats funny retro. We get the "she's not peddaling" comments from time to time and always found it curious but those of you with independent coasting can pull that off.

dwmckee

I ride a triplet with my six and ten year old sons. The comment that still irks me from two years ago was "I hope you have good insurance."

I have also had "I wish I could get my kids to do that" and "better speed up because those two kids are about to pass you." These two comments I sort of enjoy because I know I am really fortunate that my kids are willing to go on a week tour with no complaints, and I think secretly they do try to pass me sometimes!

cartogeezer

This is our second season on the tandem. Have really enjoyed getting out together and sharing the ride. Some comments like "She's not pedaling" are getting old by now.

About a week ago there were a couple of single riders that passed us that had us both fuming, but admittedly shouldn't have taken it personally. Neither one of us could have directly quoted the person, but the comment was to some effect that one or both of us were 'slacking'. We weren't out there to be hammering the pedals, but to both enjoy the bike ride.

On the other hand, just over the weekend, the comment we heard by a child out with other siblings and his mom was "Look, their sharing that bike!" We both thought that was a good observation as to what we were out doing.

robind

We get a lot of comments on the tandem. Hipsters in Santa Cruz see the timing chain and think it's a fixie tandem (lol).

But I recall getting weirder comments on the 'bent, including:
"there's something wrong with your bike"
and my favorite, as I rolled into the ferry terminal on my swb bent:
"are you disabled or something?"

Eddie50

Well, it depends, since I am visually impared man and always the stoker, when my wife is the pilot, we get some stupid comments, like
-hey hes not doing anything,
-we can see who wears the pants in the couple,
Makes me want to wear a jersey with BLIND on the back.

With my male buddy who is a strong cyclist, its different, its mostlay comments on wooahh thats fast!
-the usual gay stuff
thing is, my pilot has a temper and turns back when people disrespects us and he yells at them lol

on the bike, the usual, cost thing, its nice, whats the weight? max speed blah blah.

bjjoondo 

Funny, the saying we hear the most is: "Hey, that's a cool bike"! It seems to go for either our tandem or our recumbent half bikes too!

Snydermann

We're always amazed how friendly people are toward us when we're on the tandem compared to our single bikes.

Only comments we can remember at the moment was a question from a little boy directed at my wife, our stoker, "How can you steer if you can't see where you are going?"

Once I was out by myself on the tandem making adjustments and besides the usual "she fell off!!" comments I had a man say, "I didn't know just one person could ride one of those."

Ritterview

Everybody loves a tandem. One of the things I get a kick out of is the entree it gives to the most exclusive places. We were doing a ride in Santa Barbara last weekend and it went through celebrity-haven Montecito, where privacy hedges loom 20 ft on either side of the road, forming a wall. But, if we were zip through an opening gate onto one of these estates, we would apprehend no hostility, but rather expect a "Wow, nice bike...is that a belt drive?"