Comments people have said about your tandem
 

Haven't heard this one before, but as we were riding past a flower vendor, he yelled "Better speed up, she's about to catch you!"

Two little girls were eyeing our tandem when we stopped for supplies on a long ride. One little gal said to the other, "Look! It's a Christmas tree of waterbottles!"

"She's not pedaling!" Very original.

We get a lot of "cool bike" comments ... mainly from the kids in the area. We also get a lot of smiles and waves. :)

Two small kids yelled " Look! It's a two-ster bike!!". Not many tandems in the Litchfield Hills.

I rarely 'listen' to comments called out by motorists, pedestrians, etc... so I typically don't have a clue what they said. That's not to say I don't hear things, but hearing and listening are obviously quite different. I think some captains and stokers have had problems in this regard, i.e., they may hear their partner saying something but don't actually listen and/or heed what's being said.

However, that said, the most frequent question / comment I've heard dating back to 1997 has always been... "What's something like that cost?", partcularly from folks under 20. Kids today always seem to be more interested in what stuff costs than the more important aspect of 'value'.

"Why the mirror on your helmet? So you can make sure that she's pedaling?" OR one day we were riding through a questionable neighborhood, past a group of intimidating looking guys, with another tandem, when one of them yelled out: "Look at that 2 seat s--t!" We ALL (us and them) waved and shared a good laugh!

I often hear child exclaim cool when their see our tandem. Makes my 9 year daughter proud!

Be careful, you're showing your age. :)

Most kids we ride past say "Regarde! Un vélo pour deux!" because we live in a French-speaking region. Translation: "Look! A bicycle for two!" Not very original, but I thought you guys might enjoy a bit of cultural diversity.

Whenever we park the bike in a small European village, within 5 minutes it has a group of old men standing around it pointing to things and discussing it with their buddies; this is a great method of theft protection/security.

With kids in their 30's and grandkids as old as 10, we've learned to accept it... the age, not the mis-guided value systems.

Since my single bike is a recumbent, I am used to getting the looks and comments (mostly positive). The question I get most often while out on the tandem is "How much does a bike like that cost?"

This question typically comes from folks who don't ride "performance" bikes. Folks who ride performance bikes have a pretty good idea of what a bike costs by looking at it.

At first my answer was "Whatever you want it to cost anywhere from $1,000 on up." At that point their eyes would gloss over and they would look at me like I was a lycra-clad idiot for spending that kind of money when I could buy a perfectly good bike from Walmart for $200. Now when they ask, I just respond with "Too much." LOL

In Colmar, France, about our tandem + Burley trailer: "Un limousine!"

In Fontaine de Vaucluse, France, this summer, as we sat eating our ice cream, we had no less than 10 people gathered around our triplet looking at it, pointing at things and discussing it in various languages, etc. It's a great way of getting to talk to the locals. Although we sometimes feel like a freak show, we love it.

We have been asked how much our tandem cost in many locales, both here in the USA and abroad. And now with the triplet, that is the one of the two most-asked questions (the other: how do you haul that around? Answer: Honda minivan). I hate to tell people how much it really cost, because they never understand why we'd spend so much on a bike (unless they are bikers themselves). Just this week we had a roofer out to estimate a new roof on our house. He noticed the triplet in the garage and asked about cost. I told him he could buy it and have money left over with the price he was charging us for the new roof!

This didn't happen to us but was told to us by another tandem couple on this year's Cycle North Carolina. They were doing a group ride as was their pastor. As he rode by them, he said to the captain, "Rich, you're really hauling ass" ( referring to his wife). Classic.

As someone in their 20's (I understand not under anymore) and with limited budget I often ask how much something costs when I like it to see if it's realistically in my budget. Even though I understand the value of a nice tandem (and someday we'll get one) if my only experience with tandems was when I heard the price of a calfee I'd quickly lose interest. I could be off on this as I don't know how it's said or asked but that is the feeling I get when my friends ask us what the price of our tandem was. Even the price of a used cannondale scares most of our friends away who are students with loans and no income (it would have scared us away not too long ago).

But as alreay stated she's not pedaling is the most heard comment we get, the other one we get at red lights a lot from people on singles is how does it climb.

I passed a little kid who was excited to see a tandem and he said "look it's a two wheeled bike!"

Lots of stammering, actually....

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_tjqvmQtORUA/TG...entricquad.jpg

The question gets asked two ways; the way you characterized it... and those are easy to recognize and answered with the more useful "as little as a few hundred for an older used tandem to many thousands for exotic or multi-seat models". That typically leads to more questions... and that's a good thing if you're a tandem cycling enthusiast who wants to see more folks on tandems.

And then there are the more common ways it's asked by folks who you can tell aren't interested in tandems and tandeming or if you guess wrong, push back on the useful answer with the, "no... how much did that cost?" Those types of folks are answered differently depending on where we are and what we're doing there, but my typical answers are "a couple bucks" or J.P. Morgan's oft quoted, "If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it". That's actually a brilliant statement if you think about it... not an arrogant and flip remark. Serious buyers know what things cost and/or ask completely different types of questions when they're in the information gathering process.

I don't beat around the bush when asked how much the bike costs, I just tell them. It is what it is. If they looked shocked I ask them how much does a Ferrari or Lamborgini(the car not the tandem ;)) cost? Heck my single bike cost nearly $7K five years ago so why shouldn't the tandem be twice that now? I don't really see the big deal.

Because some folks just don't have a need to know... In fact, I've never told anyone what our Calfee actually cost.

If the initial questioning goes somewhere useful, then yeah; I'll share what something like a Calfee could cost.

I don't know why some people would "need to know" and others wouldn't? It's not like the cost of these things is a big secret or anything. I could just say "go look it up on the internet" but what's the point? I don't tell people what I actually paid since that isn't relevant (and they can't get it at that price anyway) but I do tell them what they'd have to pay if they wanted one like it.

Mostly folks smile and wave. Stoker smiles and waves right back. Stokers are our best ambassadors. Our bike was purchased used, so we tell 'em what it cost us. I just looked to see what the '11s cost. We sure have a valuable bike, he said, showing his age.

Verbal comments are mostly, "Cool," and "Wow, a belt drive!" We've never heard the "she's not pedaling" one. This could be because she's obviously pedaling like crazy.

Let's just say we agree to disagree and celebrate the existence of differences that make us interesting, unique and give rise to lively discussions like these.

That's happened to us too... We even posted it up online... too funny.

Attachment 177124
Stopped the other day by a traffic light when passenger in pick-up truck asked:
"How much is that tandem worth?'
Us: "More than your truck."
He: "Wanna trade?"
Us: "N-a-a-a-h!"
Smiles all the way around . . .
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem