How fast do you go down hills?

[kwackers]

I was thinking that and that a nicely loaded bike would match.
However we were forgetting that tandems have twice the horsepower too!

If that were true you wouldn't get shouts of "she's not pedalling at the back"!

Mind you even if she were, I doubt my missus could contribute enough to power the lights.

[reohn2]

I/we've found tandems very stable at speed (30mph upto 55ish) ,its important to have complete confidence in the stoker as much as the stoker needs to be confident in the captain/helmsman,
I well remember coming off the Trough of Boland road going west toward Abbeystead,doing 40mph plus when the backend stepped out, not a lot but enough to make me grip the saddle .Mrs R2 said calmly "did you feel that" I replied in as calm a voice as I could muster "yep" nothing more was said.
Occasionally these days if I'm enjoying myself a little to much whilst descending I feel the slightest tap on my buttock this translates as slowdown,we rarely go over 35to40 these days,I must be growing up .
She's absolute bliss to ride with and with complete trust in me.

TC
The bottom tube is always refered to as the Drainpipe

[thirdcrank]

...The bottom tube is always refered to as the Drainpipe

Thanks for that. I suppose one of those multi-seat jobbies on this thread must have had complete sewage systems

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5095&hilit

NB: For new readers, the OP included a pic of a 10 seater tandem. Unfortunately, the much-missed charlie slung his hook after a long-forgotten spat. (Actually I've not forgotten iirc it was with Mrs Tortoise over a comment about sexism. Come to think of it we've not seen her recently. I hope she's not been trip-trapping over a bridge in Dorset - they do say it's a bad spot for subponties.

[Si]

I'd always assumed that tandems were faster downhill because of the greater weight to front area ratio, pretrty much the same reason as heavier riders descend faster than skinny climbers.

naw, they are faster 'co you are trying to scare the wife

[PW]

We had a Claud Butler tandem back in the mid 80s for transporting the kids, but of course it had to have a shakedown cruise with the wife stoking. That would be at or around the time the first Avocet computers came out but I hadn't yet bought one. Anyhow we burned a Honda 90, the motorbike shaped one not the later step through, descending Stoney Middleton Dale on the way home from Tideswell. I'll never forget the look on the rider's face, his jaw must have dropped a foot.

[reohn2]

We had a Claud Butler tandem back in the mid 80s for transporting the kids, but of course it had to have a shakedown cruise with the wife stoking. That would be at or around the time the first Avocet computers came out but I hadn't yet bought one. Anyhow we burned a Honda 90, the motorbike shaped one not the later step through, descending Stoney Middleton Dale on the way home from Tideswell. I'll never forget the look on the rider's face, his jaw must have dropped a foot.

[patpalloon]

I've had 38mph so far on the new road bike. I'm using a Garmin Edge 500.
Interestingly my car speedo is a couple of mph faster - so when my Garmin says 38,
the car speedo says 40.

[meic]

Car speedos are not accurate toys at all.

Legally they are allowed to read up to 10% OVER speed and they are not allowed to read slow at all.
Obviously it is in the manufacturers' (and road safety) interests to read fast as it gives you better mpg and mph!

On the other hand I have done over a thousand miles per hour on the bike before, according to my Garmin Legend.

[kwackers]

As foolish youths we were going by motorcycle to one of our favourite haunts when a 'friend' turned up on a bicycle.
Being good mates we offered to hook up a rope and tow him there...

I don't know how fast he went on that bike, but we had a hell of a job separating the saddle from his buttocks (and we buckled one of his wheels).

[Mick F]

I followed Mike F's advice and used both brakes ................

Excellent!

[asterix]

In the past I've bust the 50 mph barrier on Holme Moss, Garrowby Hill and Sutton Bank. I'm more laid back about descending these days having a lower top gear and rarely taking a cycle computer.

When I was doing the Holme Moss descent someone actually passed me. I'd love to know his top speed (we weren't racing, or at least i wasn't!)

[thirdcrank]

...When I was doing the Holme Moss descent someone actually passed me. ...

That was probably Obélix. The extra weight of the menhir would work in much the same way as the lead-filled bidons Jean Robic was reputed to pick up at the top of alpine descents. Please note I have avoided suggesting your chum is fat, as he may be lurking and I'd not want to upset him.
(Je ne suis pas gros! Je ne suis pas gros! Un peut fort, peut-être, mais je ne suis pas gros! )

[wearwell]

I did 77kph coming down Mont Ventoux. If I'd known I was so close to 50mph I'd have tried a bit harder!

[Tonyf33]

Did 40mph this morning on a shortish stretch into Ashwell village, you can't sustain the speed for too long as there is a 90 degree left hander at the bottom, unfortunately only 8mph back into the wind coming up Saying that, that's the fastest I've been on the Globe Pro so far, could go faster I guess if I took the panniers off & pedaled harder

[fimm]

Maybe that depends on whether you want to "go really fast downhill" with him in control of brakes & steering?

If one thing's for sure about a tandem it's that the stoker must have 100% confidence (or even more) in the captain.
...
In short, if you want to be a tandem stoker, be prepared to be a subordinate for the duration of every ride.

Good points. Assuming it is OK for the stoker to close her eyes on the downhill sections, I think I would cope... We did try a hired mountainbike tandem once, it was somewhat of a disaster - it felt very unstable and we struggled to work together. Fortunately it developed a fault, we took it back to the hire place, they gave us two single bikes instead and the day was saved. I'd still like to try on a more conventional tandem sometime as I think riding one does take some practice and we didn't really try for long enough.