How difficult is it to ride a tandem bicycle?

Question

My husband has just ordered a tandem bicycle. We both have never been on a tandem before. What should I expect???

Answer 1

Well, Christina, you like Daisy will look good. (You do remember the song, don't you?) It is surprisingly easy. And it gets easier after you do it just a little. One important tip. You may think that just because you are in back, you can get by with not pedaling and let him do the work. But he will know. Don't try to fool him. What great exercise! And good companionship. You all will be fit and trim.

Answer 2

You will enjoy a tandem. They are great for a couple of different abilities that want to ride together.
The most important thing is COMMUNICATION. All the normal things you do on a single bike you have to verbalize so the other knows what you are doing.
The captain calls most of the signals, such as starting, stopping, coasting, bumps, turns, shifting, braking etc.
The stoker mostly pedals and can call out sights to look at, LOL. The stoker must verbalize such small things as grabbing for a water bottle or taking a hand off bars to wipe nose.
Even these small things greatly upset the balance when moving fast.
They may not seem important, but after riding a while you will find out how much they mean.
At 20MPH on a flat road just the stoker taking one hand off bar will force the bike over almost half a lane. If the captain is not ready for this. Can be a disaster at the wrong time.
Best solution is talking and when moving one hand off bar, always move the other hand to the center of bar at same time.
Start out in a large parking lot and get used to starting and stopping together. Then venture out onto the road when you feel more comfortable with handling a large bike.
Remember it is like going from a sports car to a truck. Slower to accelerate and turn but much faster down hills

Answer 3

It's really not too hard, but does take some good communication. If one of you is pedaling you must both be pedaling. Just make sure you let each other know when you're going to coast, or start again and you'll be fine. After you do it for a little while you won't even have to talk, you'll just know. The only other thing to remember is that they don't steer as quickly as a normal bike, so don't expect to win any slalom races, and more importantly, be careful if riding in a group, or around lots of pedestrians.

Answer 4

Its not all that difficult to get on and ride, but it takes practice to get coordinated and feel comfortable with it.

Once you do however, its a thing of beauty and faster than he££!!