Does anyone else ride bicycles?

[ArlyA]

So Arly, are all those multi stoker bikes yours? Jon

Not all but most.

 

[civilian]

Not all but most.

Unfortunately our tandem never got ridden much. Wife and I have very different cadence rates. Mine is high and easier gear, her's slower and harder gear. Daughter has used it with a child stoker that we used ith our kids. Jon

 

[ArlyA]

We were trained to ride them waaaaaaay back when we got our 1st Burley, so after that, we trained all stokers, captains and teams so as to properly ride them. Its more fun. This was taken on Paul's Plunge Copper Harbor MI

 

[CliffordK]

I've slowed down a bit on the riding, but I need to get back on it as the cycling is the best thing I've found for my aging knees.

This was from a couple of years ago.

And yes, I did go both up and down this hill.

Playing around with bikes a bit. This photo was from Champoeg, so I had ridden the bike from Eugene to Portland, and then was begging my return trip (about 150 miles or more each direction). The first photo with the flowers was also in the middle of that Eugene/Portland ride.

 

[Captain Dirty]

Unfortunately our tandem never got ridden much. Wife and I have very different cadence rates. Mine is high and easier gear, her's slower and harder gear.

My wife and I had the same problem; solution: Re-time the pedals so the captain is 90° ahead of the stoker. Being out of phase tends to even the pedal "feel" and captain leading makes the stoker's pedals level when the captain has the inside pedal up for a turn, and stoker's inside pedal will move upwards when they start pedaling.

 

[CliffordK]

I think I've heard you can also play around with the crank lengths on a tandem.

Longer cranks tend to slow one's cadence down a bit, and shorter cranks can speed up the cadence, I think. So, perhaps try to give the Captain (that wants to spin fast) 180mm cranks, and give the stoker (who thinks the pace is too fast) 160mm or 165mm cranks.

It would be nice if you could get loaner parts from the local bike dealer. Or a "bike fitter".

Perhaps your bike manufacturer would help.

COMOTION is a local Eugene company. I haven't dealt with the directly, but perhaps they could supply the needed parts with the promise to buy them if you find the length you need.

 

[civilian]

We went to the factory store in CA at the time of ordering the Santana tandem since we lived about an hour away at the time. They sized the tandem to our size. Now this was back in the early 80's. Also I think Santana set the cranks out of phase for a better power stroke back then. Ride position thinking was a bit different than today. If I remember correctly, overall length was 8ft with 27" tires. Not sure what Arly's length is in his tandem. I know wife felt very close to my back. Short top tube for her. Today I can't tell you what crank arms are on it. I can tell you that it was disigned to support 600 pounds of riders and gear carried on rack. And stop it. Rim brakes and a drum brake.

I couldn't tell you when I actually road it last. Maybe when I first lent it to my daughter for her son as a child stoker. And he will be 13 next month. Jon

 

[ArlyA]

Rear top tubes on tandems had been lengthened very much since the 80's.

 

[yardbota]

Strange looking bikes! Why do you want to sit on a stick?

View attachment 4189543

Nice bike.

I have a Ti Bacchetta.And a Vrex and a Scott, and others. Logged 22K miles in '05. Now at 75yo Im afraid of folks watching vids, slapping their kids.
bg

 

[anomad]

Nice bike.
View attachment 4397889I have a Ti Bacchetta.And a Vrex and a Scott, and others. Logged 22K miles in '05. Now at 75yo Im afraid of folks watching vids, slapping their kids.
bg

You know what they say... Bicyclists can't help but look down on recumbent riders! LOL

That joke always gets a laugh when I run across a recumbent in the wild.

 

[yardbota]

We've also done part or all of the RAGBRAI event.

Hey, were yall on a RAGBRAI in early 1990ish?
There was a group of AirForce riders on a shortened pentdom made for kids.
When all adults were pedaling they were fast

 

[yardbota]

You know what they say... Bicyclists can't help but look down on recumbent riders! LOL

That joke always gets a laugh when I run across a recumbent in the wild.

Yeah some of my coriders said I was at doberman level.

 

[ArlyA]

Hey, were yall on a RAGBRAI in early 1990ish?
There was a group of AirForce riders on a shortened pentdom made for kids.
When all adults were pedaling they were fast

It was 92 to 95 vintage.

 

[bdhsfz6]

 

[yardbota]

It was 92 to 95 vintage.

I did 2 RAGBRIAs @ then. Was an Elvis impersonator in 1st town, folks wanting us to see their bike trails, and also hyping their internet availability.
Was the beginning of the best of my riding days. Well, except for corn fields full of poo, and the women hijacking bathrooms.
bg

 

[ArlyA]

I did 2 RAGBRIAs @ then. Was an Elvis impersonator in 1st town, folks wanting us to see their bike trails, and also hyping their internet availability.
Was the beginning of the best of my riding days. Well, except for corn fields full of poo, and the women hijacking bathrooms.
bg

To much humidity, heat and people. We found the rides with 1000 to 2000 attendees more fun.

 

[ArlyA]

Hey, were yall on a RAGBRAI in early 1990ish?
There was a group of AirForce riders on a shortened pentdom made for kids.
When all adults were pedaling they were fast

Any pics of you there?

 

[ArlyA]

OK, I found a few more pics of us. The quad was terrible to ride. Waaaaaaaay to short of top tubes.

 

[oakhilltop]

I had a 2003 Ti Aero. Loved it.

I get a kick when riding centuries and the wedgie riders are shaking their wrists, wiggling their butts and necks and one rides by and asks "is that THING comfortable?"

But, I do really agree with the saying "ride what YOU like", whatever type of bike it is. I have seen people look very comfortable when riding. diamond frame bikes, and then I've seen some that are clearly struggling. When I rode one, after 25 miles, I just wanted to get off the thing.

 

[ArlyA]

I had a 2003 Ti Aero. Loved it.

I get a kick when riding centuries and the wedgie riders are shaking their wrists, wiggling their butts and necks and one rides by and asks "is that THING comfortable?"

But, I do really agree with the saying "ride what YOU like", whatever type of bike it is. I have seen people look very comfortable when riding. diamond frame bikes, and then I've seen some that are clearly struggling. When I rode one, after 25 miles, I just wanted to get off the thing.

I'm a industrial history buff.... At the Chicago worlds fair in 1893 which was the heyday of bicycle development, a fellow attended to demonstrate his patented recumbent version and it was arguably 90% the same as we see today. Sorry to say, his name was lost in history but for some reason, the diamond steel tube frames as we see below, still by far, dominants the world market.