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Is there a bicycle for short people?

Can two people successfully ride a tandem bicycle, if only one of them knows how to ride a bike?

  • Let's say you're an avid cyclist, planning a date with somebody who can't bike. Riding a tandem bicycle together sounds romantic, but is it going to end up with skinned knees?

  • Answer:

    The less the stoker (person not handling the controls) knows about cycling, the easier it is. I would not suggest it as a first date, however, since a good experience on the tandem depends very much on the captain being comfortable handling such a long bike. If you are used to riding a loaded touring bike and your prospective stoker trusts you, you might consider it as a second date as something adventuresome and (only very slightly) romantic. Read "The Proper Method" before you attempt any riding on the tandem (with or without a romantic partner): http://www.gtgtandems.com/tech/propmethod.html

Piaw Na at Quora Visit the source

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Yes. Ideally the captain (the first rider) does all the steering and balancing while the stoker (the second rider) is passive.  It actually makes it harder for the captain to balance the bike if the stoker tries to balance as well (since you have to account for their moves).  That said, tandems can be tricky to ride, and some bikes are better than others.  I'd first try riding with an understanding friend. 

Ben Kraft

Yes.  Me and my  partner have a tandem and she had barely ridden a bike solo before, and still wobbles with little confidence.  On the back of our tandem she can sit pedalling away, no handed.   If we ride vice versa, and I'll be making weight corrections from the back, while she makes NO corrections at the front - and we crash.  Every time. You do need a bit of confidence in each other though, and it's definitely a bit of a learning curve in there.  For example, it's easily possible to ride a tandem from the back seat, with no-one on the front - in other words, the stoker can steer by leaning!  Up front it's more upper body work than on a solo, and you have to think ahead considerably   You can't change direction with a flick of the hips like on a racer, and stopping takes a lot longer.  Don't ride in traffic on your first go. Communication is everything, as the stoker can't see what's coming and feels bumps in road much more.  I call out 'bump' out of habit now - sometimes even when I'm in the car.... As for dates, well, a friends son borrows our tandem to take all his dates out on for romantic picnics, so it works for him...

Jon Bowen

Absolutely....I am an avid cyclist ( 3-4 rides a week ), and my wife is still breakign into cycling. She is not comfortable with clip-less pedals, doesn't do group rides, etc..BUT, we have some fantastic times riding our MTB tandem.  The only thing I woudl say is the stoker needs to occassinoaly lean with the captain in sharper, higher speed turns to increase stability.

Anthony Barr

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