I am currently debating if I should get one or not. Want to get some feed back from those that have one how they ride, are they fun? Who do you typically ride with?
May get one to ride with the wife.
May get one to ride with the wife.
Riding Tandems
- Thread starter MIGZ
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If you want to get in an argument with your spouse get a tandem, It is one of those bikes that have two good days, the day you buy it and the day you sell it. The novelty wears off quickly, they take up a lot of space, they take some getting used to as far as riding goes, you can't use it unless you BOTH want to go for a ride, and horrible turning radius. I had a friend that had one and me and my girlfriend have borrowed it a few times and it was kinda fun for a few minutes then it got to be a real pain.
When I was a kid, I lived in a trailer park...a Navy brat. We had a tandem in the 60's and it was a blast! The neighborhood had kids of all ages, and finding a willing partner was easy. The most memorable stories were when we deployed a small parachute while going full speed. It got real ugly REAL FAST when my sister and her friend tried it and snagged a mailbox. Some time later we moved to a much less populated neighborhood on a rather treacherous road and mom sold the tandem. It was a little over a year ago that I got bit by the Rat Rod Bike bug. I had finished, for the most part, my wife's Columbia Built and was working on my Rollfast when a co-worker said his Inlaws had a rusty old tandem. I bought this for fifth bucks.
I have sunk a fortune into this beast, and I scratch my head and wonder why. The good news is, I wanted the original, heavy-spoke wheels back on the bike so I had the rims and spokes powder coated and learned to rebuild wheels. It has plenty of spare parts if I ever do decide to cannibalize it. I especially like the rear handlebars...they're REAL wide coming out of the stem. They would look great on my Rollfast. The picture below is outdated as the wheels on it in the picture are not on it now. The original rims are now black with red spokes...it does look pretty sharp.
It is a novelty thing for sure. The rear rider's biggest complaint is the view...the front rider's back. I'm seriously considering putting a picture of it in the coffee mess at work and making it available to anyone that wants to borrow it. It's great for kids, or if you want ride at a festival, boardwalk or a parade...anywhere where there is a LARGE group of people. Seems everyone but the people who actually own them like them.
Would I do it again? NO!
I have sunk a fortune into this beast, and I scratch my head and wonder why. The good news is, I wanted the original, heavy-spoke wheels back on the bike so I had the rims and spokes powder coated and learned to rebuild wheels. It has plenty of spare parts if I ever do decide to cannibalize it. I especially like the rear handlebars...they're REAL wide coming out of the stem. They would look great on my Rollfast. The picture below is outdated as the wheels on it in the picture are not on it now. The original rims are now black with red spokes...it does look pretty sharp.
It is a novelty thing for sure. The rear rider's biggest complaint is the view...the front rider's back. I'm seriously considering putting a picture of it in the coffee mess at work and making it available to anyone that wants to borrow it. It's great for kids, or if you want ride at a festival, boardwalk or a parade...anywhere where there is a LARGE group of people. Seems everyone but the people who actually own them like them.
Would I do it again? NO!
If your not jammed for space and aren't looking for an everyday rider then I would say go for it. Some of my best bike memories are on a tandem :lol: I think they are great for going around the neighborhood or riding the bike path. Alot of what the other guys are saying is true but they are fun every once in a while. I have been know to ride one of my three alone too...
My wife enjoys ours now that she realizes I'm not going to kill her, but trust is really important if you want someone sit behind you with nothing but a direct view of your butt while you do all of the steering. I'm still not allowed to go too fast... or to fart either 
Peace Y'all
Peace Y'all
We ride our tandem maybe a couple times a year. For us it's just a novelty. I guess we're too independent to share a bike.
There's even been times on our clubs "Tandem Night" that we've rode separate tandems.
There's even been times on our clubs "Tandem Night" that we've rode separate tandems.
some time back, in the small town I grew up in, a local service station got some tandems and rented them out by the hour. they were real popular for awhile. I just remember thinking that I always felt like I was doing all the pedaling. I suppose my partner rider thought the same. Have not been on one since!
I used to ride my tandem all time, even if I didn't have someone to ride it with me. The only reason that I still don't have it is because I didn't have room in the moving truck to bring it along.
Bought one to ride with the wife. Rode with the wife once. Sold tandem, barely kept wife. I did have some fun on it riding with one of the neighbor kids. All in all, an experience I'd rather forget. Gary
I did have some fun on it riding with one of the neighbor kids. All in all, an experience I'd rather forget. Gary
I had a friend drop one by to be repaired and when I was done my daughter and her friend did the test riding for me. When they got back my daughter told me "You have to get one!" I began looking for one to come up cheap and when aka_locojoe had the one in his pics above at our local swap meet I looked it over and almost passed on it. That is until the end of the day after he had sold the wheels off of it and dropped his price to $40 so he wouldn't have to take it home. He didn't know what it was other than British so when I got home I began digging through the internet and discovered it was a 1937 BSA. I had all the chrome replated, located the correct decals and had the ones I couldn't find custom made. It is missing some of the original parts, but most of it is there. Now it spends more time in the garage than on the road, but when the girls are on it, grinning from ear to ear it is worth having. I can even sucker the wife into riding it with me from time to time. If you have the room to store one, get one. They are fun to get out and ride every now and then.
When it came home
As she sits, except now the rear seat matches the front.
When it came home
As she sits, except now the rear seat matches the front.
the wife would rather go tandem on the long rides she does, and we do parades, so thats what?... 3 times a year :lol: :lol: my biggest gripe is they are hard to store... :roll:
yoothgeye
I build stuff.
Mine is still just a frame, but I'm building it for the parade December 4th, I'm also building a wooden reindeer to ride on the rear seat (someone on this site did this and I saw the photo around here somewhere). It will probably be something I keep, I have room for it and I like to loan out fun-for-a-while bikes.
Markm's quote from a different post....
I'm with Markm on this on. My wife would never ride with me :roll: And storing it in my basement would be tough :wink:
I would love a steer from the rear though.
Markm said:Ive heard people say the two best days of owning a tandem is the day you get it and the day you get rid of it.....
I'm with Markm on this on. My wife would never ride with me :roll: And storing it in my basement would be tough :wink:
I would love a steer from the rear though.
I am on my second tandem right now, I need to update my photo's since it became roadworthy, But I use mine everyday to pick my daughter up at the bus stop, she loves the attention. I figure it will be good for when I am able to make the Sacramento rides, I wont have to worry so much about her riding in traffic, but here's my mid sixties Huffy Daisy Daisy.
