Tandem speeds ...

[robgul]

I haven't ridden a tandem since I used to stoke one riding to school in the 1960s ....

I'm helping someone working on a challenge ride on a tandem ... the riders would be best described as "tourists" and they'll be on something akin to a Galaxy tandem.

My question is what sort of moving average will they achieve on, say, a 70 mile stage of undulating countryside?    I am assuming, from tandems on our club runs, that the speed on the flat may be a little quicker but slower on inclines.

All information welcome!

Rob

[Oscar's dad]

I don't often ride Tina the Tandem with an adult stoker.  However, when I do we can cruise between 15 to 20mph, often nearer to 20.  Even on a solo I never climb fast so am happy to climb hills at 5 to 6mph.  Downhill speeds over 30mph are the norm.  We have yet to go over 40mph but know that many tandem crews top 50mph.

Hope this helps.

[Jasmine]

I think there's quite a lot of variables for a good answer.

I have the benefit of having started tandemming when I wasn't a very good rider.  We got our tandem to equal out the difference between Andy & me as he was a much stronger rider than I was.  So in our case, our moving average was slower than his riding solo, but much quicker than me on my own.  So if there is a big difference between rider strength, then it will be an average between the two (slightly faster than average actually).

I am now a slightly improved cyclist (but not particularly fast), so our tandem speed is faster than either of our solo speeds, sort of like riding in a permanent drafting position.  Generally, we are quite fast on the flat, very fast downhill, and variable uphill.  Uphill sections depend a lot on riding style.  I'm not a natural climber, so out and out climbs are slow for me whatever I'm riding.  The tandem is better suited to rolling hills as you can use the momentum of a downhill to get half-way up the next hill.  Personally, I don't find hills that much slower than solo riding, as long as we don't totally lose momentum.

Can't really say what speed someone else would achieve on 70 miles as it is largely dependent on how fast they would ride anyway...

[jogler]

I recently had my grand-daughter regularly stoking on the school run & evening rides.
On the flat 30kmh was easily acheived(middle ring/small sprocket:the big ring is currently un-available,awaiting fettling),downhill is best described as Geronimo-onna-Exocet speeds & uphill is a slow spinny affair sometimes equivalent to walking pace.
Experience shows that doing my regular solo routes on the tandem is upto 20% quicker

[Panoramix]

With Mrs P stoking, I would assume 20km/h on a hilly ride (100 km Cotswold type) for planning purposes. On the flat we would do better, we can average 28km/h on the Bristol to Bath cyclepath but  there are not many other flat bits around. Our tandem is a Thorn explorer with 26 x 1.5 tyres.
Steep climbs kill the average more than on an upright but steady small inclines are OK.

[Ian H]

When J and I raced tandem we were considerably faster as a team. As an example: our ten times were 26 and 23 mins respectively. On the tandem we did 21s.

[phil d]

My view (which doesn't seem to differ from others expressed) is that if the riders are reasonably evenly matched (ie would comfortably ride together on solos) they will be a bit quicker on a tandem.  If they are not evenly matched, their speed will be somewhere in between what they would do solo - as Jasmine says, the stronger will give up some energy to the weaker.

[robgul]

Thanks for the replies - obviously lots of "what-ifs" but I now have a bit more idea for planning the next steps with the project.

Rob

[sg37409]

When my wife and I were on the tandem, I always felt we were slow: We'd average around 20-22 kph
A lot slower compared to solo speed for me, quicker than solo speed for my wife.
With either of my sons, we are slower still.

I'm very light, and don't have much power: I think I'm affected by the extra weight more than a stronger rider would be.  As most teams know, thats beside the point for riding on the tandem: I prefer riding on the tandem. I have a lot of respect for fast tandem teams.

[damerell]

I'm helping someone working on a challenge ride on a tandem ... the riders would be best described as "tourists" and they'll be on something akin to a Galaxy tandem.
My question is what sort of moving average will they achieve on, say, a 70 mile stage of undulating countryside?

Impossible to answer without knowing how quick they are, but they should be faster than the slower rider (and hence faster than they would be riding solos together) regardless. In very flat terrain, much faster; in very lumpy terrain, only a bit faster.