Tandem Basics

The captain rides up front and is responsible for steering, braking, navigating, watching for hazards and bumps, and setting the cadence and gear selection. The stoker rides in back and provides power, manages maps, cell phones, water bottles, food, and turning hand signals. The captain rides through the bugs and the wind and sometimes rain while the stoker is hunkered behind the captain, blocked from most bugs and wind and rain.

The stoker‘s trust and confidence in the captain must be complete, and the captain must be a strong and careful rider to earn and maintain this trust. The captain must look out for potholes and obstructions since the stoker can’t see the bumps and therefore can’t rise up out of the saddle in time. If the bump is unavoidable, the captain should tell the stoker early enough to take action.

The captain should set a cadence that both riders can comfortably maintain. Cadence drives gear choice. A good rate to shoot for on a longer tour is 60-70 RPM. This is fast enough to keep the bike rolling while not so slow that the entire effort is mere brute pushing. 8-90 RPM works fine for short bursts of speed (taking advantage of a slight downhill, racing through a light, or just blowing by some poor soul on a single.

Higher cadences are unnecessary for touring. The gear ratios on the bike should suit the team and permit riding at the cadence.

The captain must be able to determine if there will be enough inertia to roll over the hill or down shift before the hill so the transition is not made under pressure. Tandem chains are longer so shifts don’t happen as quickly as they do on a single.

Nothing happens quickly on a tandem – tandems start more slowly, take longer to stop, have more complicated and therefore lengthy gear changes, and require more room to make a turn.

Once you get rolling, you’re more likely to reach higher speeds and sustain that speed over gently rolling terrain. There’s a significant difference in the experience on a tandem when you get the pedals cranking and ride at 25, 30, 35 MPH. Which is why a good, solid frame is critical – you don’t want high-speed shimmy on a tandem, and you want full control on the road when you’re rolling along at car speeds.