[shiboleth]

We have a kuwahara touring tandem now and I have ridden them for years. There are two positions pilot (front) and stoker (rear.) The pilot must have strong shoulders as well as good legs so in a mixed pair the male usually pilots. I feel that a good cadence is very important in tandem riding. Also the pilot must keep the stoker well informed about what he is doing.

[HandsomeRyan]

Update: Mrs. HandsomeRyan and I picked up the tandem (almost a year ago) and we have really enjoyed it. We ride the local greenway trails and now I'm working close to the C&O canal towpath so we take it over there as well. It has been a great thing to make up for the difference between my enthusiasm for cycling and my wife's apathy for it. I'm looking at a 15y/o burley road tandem I found on craigslist. Its the right size, in decent shape, and the guy is willing to throw in a tandem roof rail that will fit my car (i already have one but you can never have too many roof rails!) for $800. The wife doesn't think we need anymore bikes and I kinda want a CX bike for myself so we'll see what happens.

[Industry_Hack]

Good luck with that, HR. By the way, you and the missus should check out the Apres Velo giveaway that just got posted. Y'all could have some matching "After ride" kit...

[sparkywow1]

I own @ 28 tandems that I built for fun, but I don't have any pics. I've got-em all in storage, and need to get them out and put them together. They were great when my kids lived at home. Took them to the festivals and got some strange looks, but had a blast.
Communication is the key word here, start and stopping.

[Eagle]

Back in the day (mid to late 80's) the shop had a mountian bike tandem, no disk brakes, no suspention haha. it was great! rideing trails and doing crazy decents on it, people looking at you like your a nut. I rode the back so I had no control over what we did hahah just along for the ride.
On Sundays we would put slickes on it and ride a couple 100 km, i remember we could get some good speed out of it.

[mikebike]

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/tourdemiller7

[billydeewright]

My 1965 Schwinn Twinn has a low-high switch mechanism, but it looks like a single speed. You have to reverse the pedals slightly to change from low to high gear. The rider in the back has to let the front guy have control and this all has to be explained before the ride. Also, it is much heavier than bikes today. Probably close to 80 lbs. I ride with my kids. There are pedals attached like pegs to the rear axle, and a rack over the rear fender. My 7 yr old son rides there on a pillow we bungee cord on. Then my 12 yr old daughter sits on the back seat and helps me pedal.