Fair enough, but I think the notion of sufficiency is relevant here. One being stronger doesn't necessarily mean the other is not strong enough. The same goes for experience. See http://www.gtgtandems.com/tech/femcaptain.html for an alternative view.
ted On Sunday, February 9, 2014 10:20:39 AM UTC-8, Michael Hechmer wrote: > > In addition to what Steve has noted there is also an issue of strength. > The captain needs to keep the bike upright while the stoker mounts and > when at stops like traffic lights, where the pilot puts a foot down while > the stoker stays clipped in. This is easy as long as the bike remains > perfectly vertical, but when it doesn't the person in front needs to be > stronger enough to lift the bike and stoker back to vertical. This argues > for always putting the person with the most upper body strength in front > and the person with the lower body weight in back. You also always want > the more experienced rider in front . With a mixed team this usually turns > out to be the male, but their are a few couples on the tandem@hobbes list > with female captains. Or blind stokers, which really makes the choice easy! > > Michael > > On Saturday, February 8, 2014 12:03:25 PM UTC-5, ted wrote: >> >> I am sure Jim knows well where of he speaks, so I count my wife and I as >> very lucky to have gotten a used tandem that suits us fairly well for far >> less than 5k, and through RBW no less. >> What I don't get though, is why virtually no "enthusiastic" husbands seem >> to let their wives drive. I can see over/around my wife better than she can >> me, and I think she appreciates being able to drive more than I miss it. I >> have read that there are tandem riding couples were the guy is the stoker, >> but I have yet to see one on the road. >> >> On Friday, February 7, 2014 2:06:37 AM UTC-8, Jim Thill - Hiawatha >> Cyclery wrote: >>> >>> I have seen a lot of men spend a lot of futile money trying to get their >>> wives on a tandem. As others have mentioned, the fit issues are often a >>> real compromise (at best). Unless you're willing to pony up $5000-plus for >>> a custom, your odds of finding a tandem that is comfortable for both of you >>> is pretty slim. You can buy a quality used tandem for a song (from a >>> formerly enthusiastic husband), and then spend many years and thousands of >>> dollars trying to get it to fit. If you do that, you'll probably have to >>> let go of your Rivendell aesthetic sensibilities and open yourself up to >>> some new options for handlebars, etc. >>> >>> Tandems are not something you can dive into casually or cheaply and >>> expect good results. Both husband and wife need to be fully on-board with >>> the idea. If the stoker/wife is lukewarm on the idea, no amount of >>> enthusiasm from the captain will make it work. >>> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
