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TOC 2-man Tandem Please Help ID?
- Thread starter Brian R.
- Start date
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Dweber
Finally riding a big boys bike
May be a dumb question. Most of the TOC tandems with rear steer were open fronts. The women road up front with the man controlling the bike from the rear. What was the advantage of the rear steer male/male tandem? Racing tandems were steered from the front but why a rear steer? I have a 1898 Crescent Model 20 that is that way.
skiptooth
Wore out three sets of tires already!
Yes i did notice that !also the chain can be on both sides as this one ,mine has all the faber fittings and rings,their was a ad. posted here that great western made and sold faber parts, thats why I think the courting tandem I have is probably great western mfg. all their badges fit. thanks for posting brian, dweber....
corbettclassics
I live for the CABE
Eddie Bald and Ray Macdonald raced a rear steer Columbia with Bald steering. I have other pics of racers with this rear steer tandem style if I’m not mistaken. I’ll look when I have time.
corbettclassics
I live for the CABE
It would seem to me that they would actually both be able to steer the bike. The front handlebars are in the steer tube and it turns with the fork. I think the early tandems were just made this way with rear steer because it seems to me that around 1897 or so, most of these tandems all appear to be front steering. I don't follow the tandem stuff much.
Rambler
I live for the CABE
This really is a good question, "What advantage would there be to steering from the rear on a track tandem?"
I looked though several of my earlier catalogs (pre-1900) and found Bill Corbett's statement to be fairly true, "early tandems were just made this way with rear steer".
My findings show some manufacturers to offer rear steer on track tandems while others didn't. Most all road tandems either male-male or male-female seemed to always have rear steer as standard. As for track tandems I think it was simply rider preference because those manufacturers that offered rear steer on track tandems also offered it without rear steer as well. It seems to me the removal of weight created by a rear steer mechanism clearly would outweigh the advantages of rear steer so almost certainly rider preference was the reason.
I looked though several of my earlier catalogs (pre-1900) and found Bill Corbett's statement to be fairly true, "early tandems were just made this way with rear steer".
My findings show some manufacturers to offer rear steer on track tandems while others didn't. Most all road tandems either male-male or male-female seemed to always have rear steer as standard. As for track tandems I think it was simply rider preference because those manufacturers that offered rear steer on track tandems also offered it without rear steer as well. It seems to me the removal of weight created by a rear steer mechanism clearly would outweigh the advantages of rear steer so almost certainly rider preference was the reason.
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