tandem rear free wheel ?????? help

[firstaslast356]

Hi, I'm a keen cyclist but lack technical knowledge. My problem is my wife suffers from MS (multiple sclerosis) and i really do miss having her with me when cycling.My wife thank god is fine and you would not know she suffers with this horrible disability. In order to have her with me on days out i would need a tandem as all the power would come from me.( im a strong guy and intend to stick to easy routes).
My problem would be solved if i could purchase a tandem with a rear free wheel as my wife would have to rest her legs as and when she wanted even though she could not put any power into a conventional tandem her legs would still be going round and the ability to rest in one position is the crux of the question.
Can i purchase an adapter for the rear hub . a recuberant cycle whereby my wife would sit in front of me
costs around £2500-£4000 and is beyond what i want to pay. If you know where i can purchase a rear free wheel tandem great help David

[tatanab]

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=24614
http://tandem-club.org.uk/files/public_ ... read=14733
http://on3wheels.myfastforum.org/archiv ... t_265.html
http://www.jbimporters.com/web/checking ... mber=20612

So it seems it is possible with a lot of money for a specialist built machine, or there's the JBimporters item (if you could find one) but you would have to be very careful about clashing front and rear pedals since of course they cannot be synchronised. Google "tandem stoker freewheel" for these and more.

[531colin]

Cheapest way to try would be to take the rear cranks off and substitute a footrest (broomhandle, etc) fixed in their place.
Run the drive straight from the front cranks to the rear wheel....in my experience you need a roller to take the "bounce" out of the chain.

theres also a thing called a "Duet" which I have pedalled in the past, unfortunately I didn't look this good.....



(I googled "wheelchair bike" and got lots of hits)

[Brucey]

another way of doing this would be to use a direct drive to the back from the front crankset, (with an idler as Colin suggests) and a left side singlespeed freewheel drive to the rear wheel from the rear crankset (in place of a hub brake perhaps). Lots of BMXers running left side drives these days (no idea why); most rely on copious Loctite to function at all, else everything comes unscrewed. I guess in your circumstances that is less of an issue; just get out there anyway you can and make the most of every minute while you have the chance.

hth

cheers

[rjb]

Shimano made a front freewhel system in the 1980's, looks like it is what you are searching for or could be adapted if you can find one. http://sheldonbrown.com/shimano1982/pages/35.html

[Vorpal]

Or you could use a normal tandem and rig some foot rests? I've done that for our childback tandem, and I imagine that it could be done for nearly any tandem. Then there isn't any problem with pedal synchronisation, either.

[firstaslast356]

Thanks everyone, im inspired to go out and get that bike, will keep you posted with updates and photos
kindest regards to all and happy cycling from the Lewis family

[LWaB]

Vision, a recumbent tandem maker from the USA, used to make IPS cranks which allowed either captain or stoker to stop pedalling. I understand that they could be retrofitted to ordinary tandems also.