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All Posts By

Bill McCready

Sticker Shock?

By Your First Ride
Sticker Shock? While spending $3,500 or more might seem like a lot to a first-time buyer, tandem enthusiasts overwhelmingly agree that buying a competent machine the first time around is a lot smarter than losing money when reselling a lesser tandem that failed to meet your needs. If you don’t have the budget, get a good used tandem instead. A...
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Don’t Get Shortchanged

By Your First Ride
Don't Get Shortchanged Because less than one out of every 1,000 bicycles is a tandem, even the cheapest two-seaters are affected by the high cost of limited production—non-robotic welding, special tubing and unusual parts. Further, because tandem owners confirm that your tandem should be at least as good as your best single bike, a good question to ask is how...
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How to Avoid Shopping Mistakes

By Your First Ride
How to avoid Shopping Mistakes Because single bikes in a particular price range have virtually identical performance, it’s hard to make a bad choice. Most bicycle shoppers, therefore, have come to rely on such easy-to-judge criteria as componentry, convenience, discount and image. However, because the performance of tandems differs dramatically, we urge you to avoid the following tandem-shopping pitfalls: Componentry...
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Who Gets the Window Seat?

By Getting Started
Who gets the Window Seat? Because tandems are more aerodynamic when the taller rider captains, with most couples this means the man rides in front. Regardless of gender, stokers need never feel “stuck” in back. To the contrary, cyclists with equal time on both ends of a tandem unanimously prefer stoking—it’s more fun! Unlike their captain (and single bike riders),...
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2 Motors are Better than One

By Getting Started
2 Motors are Better than One Where does a tandem’s speed come from? Because tandems cut per-rider wind and rolling resistance virtually in half—even a fat-tired mountain tandem is more efficient than the sleekest disc-wheeled single bike. Further, when two cyclists ride together on singles, they are limited by the speed and range of the slower rider. Tandem partners, however,...
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Always in Sync

By Getting Started
Always in Sync How many activities can couples share where both look equally stylish, graceful and capable? While most activities reveal our differences in strength, style and grace, every couple looks great on a tandem. (We call this the Fred and Ginger factor.) next page - 2 Motors
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Farther and Faster with Less Work

By Getting Started
Farther & Faster with less Work Most cyclists first learn about a tandem’s speed when riding behind one on an organized ride. Then, we notice that even while single bikers are struggling to keep up, the tandem’s riders are sharing a normal conversation. When confronted with this paradox of speed and leisure, most people assume the tandem’s owners must be...
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Aren’t Tandems Hard to Ride?

By Getting Started
Aren't Tandems Hard to Ride? A few years ago, the best bicycles-built-for-two were clunky, unwieldy and totally unsatisfactory. Today’s best tandems, by comparison, are anything but. With proper design, tubing and components, a tandem, by virtue of its weight and wheelbase, is exceptionally safe and stable. Compared to single bikes, good tandems are also faster and more comfortable. Two can...
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The Ultimate Lifestyle

By Getting Started
The Ultimate Lifestyle Tens of millions of Americans maintain their health through cycling—a low impact, non-weightbearing and fun aerobic sport. Because cycling never becomes boring or repetitive, many do it for life. As a fitness activity, cycling’s only downside is that one must either ride alone or find someone of similar ability. Imagine how much more fulfilling cycling would be...
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A Sport for Both Sexes

By Getting Started
A Sport for Both Sexes Let’s face it. To its detriment, cycling, a male-rich sport, too often becomes a heated contest fueled by ego and testosterone. Tandeming is different. It’s the one aerobic sport that bridges the abilities of active couples—where men and women not only play as equals, they regularly lead the pack. next page - The Ultimate Lifestyle
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