[Kapelmuur]

This morning I was passed by a tandem whose riders were wearing full British Cycling/Sky kit, so I assume they were on a training ride from the Manchester Velodrome.

The rider on the front was a big unit while the the one behind was considerably smaller. This got me thinking about aerodynamics, presumably BC/Sky test these things, but wouln’t it be more efficient to have the smaller rider at the front?

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[Rod Marton]

Not sure about the
Not sure about the aerodynamics, but having the heavier person at the front gives better handling. Having said that, there are a few examples of tandem pairs with a heavier stoker, so it can be done the other way round. Some years ago, someone had the brilliant idea that the way to improve tandem aerodynamics was to have the front rider facing backwards (the rear rider steering). Apparently it worked, but as the rear rider had almost zero forward visibility the position was banned.

[Gkam84]

What is the small rider was
What is the small rider was blind/visually impaired? How are they going to be able to steer the tandem? What you describe is Craig MacLean and Neil Fachie

[Author]

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