Fixing a Tandem?

[PaulR]

I have a friend who still holds some obscure tandem record or other (is there a British 100 mile record?) and he has revealed that his old fixed tandem is still in his shed.  I think it's one built by Ken Bird. He has talked about digging it out and getting it resprayed.  I must pester him further.

I really enjoyed watching an attempt on the 200m flying start tandem record at Herne Hill a few years ago - a long, long process of cranking up the speed and then letting the officials know when the riders think they're ready to go for it, followed by a very short period of silence as they hurtle round and miss the record by a few hundredths of a second.  Then they roll round the track several times until they're no longer blurred.

[clarion]

Cool beyond cool.  Shame they missed it.

There was a poster elsewhere who let me have some bike parts who was a very accomplished tandem rider.  I'm not sure he has migrated across here.  He had certificates on his wall of his achievements.  Don't know if he ever rode fixed, but I do know he rode like the clappers.

[Ian H]

I have a friend who still holds some obscure tandem record or other (is there a British 100 mile record?) and he has revealed that his old fixed tandem is still in his shed.  I think it's one built by Ken Bird. He has talked about digging it out and getting it resprayed.  I must pester him further.

Ken Bird built some very short tandems. I have a photo somewhere of a record attempt on one where the stoker's arms are vertical and his head sideways on the pilot's back.

The French tandems on PBP were all much shorter than the current transatlantic fashion.

[ABlipInContinuity]

Luke,

Your idea sounds do able. If feet colliding was an issue, how are OOP (out of phase) set-ups possible?



Clarion, that's an inspiring quote.



My fixie has been living in the house and giving Maffie ideas about trying fixed so you never know, one day we might give fixed tandeming a go!

I'm bloody impressed with our tandeming ability. We seem much faster together on the tandem then we are together on our Solo bikes.  And it's lots of fun. If a tandem is twice the fun of a solo, fixed is twice the fun of a freewheel... fixed tandeming must be 4 x the fun of normal cycling!

[Sigurd Mudtracker]

I rode fixed  on my first tandem in the early 70s.  A heavy post war job with vastly heavy Chater Lea chainsets, 26 1 3/8 steel wheels on double fixed tandem Airlite tandem hubs.  Stopped by a pair of Weinemann 999 centrepulls.  We rode 76" for club rides (and occassional commuting) and 95" for timetrialling.  So you don't have to be "hard", I did it because that was the kit I had and I was a pauper

Don't you mean "vaguely slowed, if going uphill"?