I used to edit the 'Tandem Club Journal' some years ago and was on the committee for several years so I (well we, my wife and I) have considerable tandem riding experience. Climbing is certainly the weak point of tandems, which are much faster than singles on both flat and (even more) down hill. That's the reason they generally have a much wider gear range than usual. There are numerous theories as why they're slow on climbs but I favour the one that the 2 riders are rarely in absolute sync so are less effective when the going gets tough uphill. We've had a few tandems and our current one, a Cannondale, is geared to suit our advanced years (both 81) so our climbing gear is 30 x34 :) I don't think we would make the climb Simon and Hank did (even when we were younger) so well done, guys. Actually tandems are great fun and offer a wonderful way to ride together as a couple. We started tandemming 40 years ago when we got separated on a joint solo ride less than a mile after leaving home.
I've ridden 10's of thousands miles on a tandem and appreciate the difficulty of doing a climb like you did, great job. My cranks are set up out of phase I liked the smoother power transfer to the wheels with less peak stress on the power train. There is more of a learning curve to standing on the pedals together though. You have to be very linear in your pedaling and not rock the bike from side to side. Oh yah the stoker has a lot more control of where the bike goes than you say, if they don't lean into a turn you just might not make it out upright.The fastest I have ever gone on a bike was on my tandem, 65 mph. Passing all those single riders like they were standing still. Great video love the tandem.
I've heard it said that the stoker can't steer the tandem but can absolutely put it in the ditch. From the experiences my wife and I have had, that's very true.
Our tandem is made by DaVinci Designs and has their independent coasting mechanism and a very wide gear range. We have never found climbing to be the challenge people warned us about. I wonder if that combination of features makes the difference? With independent coasting you can change your phase and timing at will.
@@alasdairmacdonald6730 Looking at my tandem from the right side or drive side the captains pedals are vertical to the ground with the right pedal forward, the stoker is set 90 degrees offset with the right side pedal in the down position horizontal to the ground.
Shows Si was not an experienced captain, if he was he would have known instantly. As an experienced stoker Hank should have followed the captain's lead, when done right it's like a dance, fluid and graceful.
Back in the day when I used to do a lot of tandem riding, when you went out in a pack all the solo bikes would use you as a locomotive on the flats and downhills and drop you on the climbs, the trick to getting rid of the leeches was to let them get just ahead over the climb and come bombing past on the descent, as we had a top gear of around 125 inches we would fly away from them, well for a short while...
In polite group rides, single bikes pull the tandems up hill in exchange for longer pulls on the flats, and high speed downhills. Singles that jump tandems on a climb will rue their poor manners as tandem led group whizzes by them on the down hill. Try this technique for mounting tandem, especially with newer stokers: 1)Captain holds tandem, both feet on ground, bum on top tube to make it rock solid 2)Stoker climbs on and fully clips (or straps) in, presents right pedal to captain in 2:00-3:00 o'clock position when ready 3) Captain clips in right foot, counts in push off. 4) Get some momentum, stop pedaling momentarily to allow captain to clip in left foot if not able to do so on the fly.
Good description regarding the mounting technique. Works really well. That is how I was taught and how we taught newbies to get comfortable riding a tandem at Santana Europe at the bike shows in Germany in the mid 90s. I assume they still teach it this way. For beginners, the captain can forgo the clipping in of the foot on the pedal when starting. There is time to clip in both feet once you are on the move. And the captain needs to make sure feet are planted far apart when stoker positions the pedal forward so that the captain does not get their shin bumped by the pedal. Also, with this "stoker on first" technique the stoker can remain clipped in when the tandem comes to a stop (at a red light for example).
Without context, the audio on this one is extremely suggestive. "Are you in?" "Not, yet. There, I'm in." "How's that feel?" "Awful." And a whole lot of heavy breathing.
I'd be mortified if my partner had to ask "Are you in?" What are you SAYING?!!!!! Ha, ha! ... But since we've been riding tandem together for 30 years, she always knows when I'm in. How's that for the save?!
One of the funniest videos on GCN in a long time. My family kept calling to me from the other room why I was laughing so much. This was a magical comedy goldmine!
I agree awesome video but I wasn’t laughing. Several points I realized I was grinding my teeth. I’ve had to push my bike up 11% gradient so just thinking 24% made me shudder for Hank. Si, his idea, so no sympathy for him. Keep those videos coming our way. So good.
Had me in stitches! My wife and I got round La Marmotte (Glandon, Telegraphe, Galibier, Alpe d'Huez) in 10 hours on an old steel tandem. You need little gears, 180mm cranks and the stoker cranks need to be around 15 degrees past TDC when the Captain is at TDC. But the Alpe d'Huez was like spending 75 minutes on a leg-press machine in the Gym.
get that ebike chain on there they easily withstand the 500+ w peak power of the middrive motors while pulling a (relatively) heavy bike up an insanely steep hill
Pretty much, and you have to be a bit skeptical with LBS and tandems due to tandemisms. There are several tandem groups on Facebook that are worth checking out that has tandem builders and enthusiast on it.
I used to live in the house on the left at the bottom of Prospect Place. It was in my peak running days and every run from home strated up that hill. With a walk until I got to the top!
Great video, Hank looks as though he’s over tandem riding. Last week my pilot and I went for a ride into Kangaroo Valley NSW Australia to tick a bucket list ride of mine to climb Barrengarry Mountain on my tandem. It was 563m vertical ascent at an Average gradient of 7.4% max 13%. We managed the round trip of 83km in 3hrs. But not only doing the ride but we beat my 7yo PB I had on my solo bike by a huge 3 mins. Tandems can climb but at a steady pace.
First of all - it’s absolutely hilarious and powerful duo Simon and Hank, so entertaining to watch! Very informative as well, like I’d never even come close to tandems after seeing this )
2:51 probably quite a bizarre sight for the other people in traffic and pedestrians, two guys in full kit on a race-tandem and some sort of weird orange contraption
The timing of this video is so perfect. Am learning to ride a tandem with a brother, plan on doing a tour ride next summer with another brother. Though our tandem is not awesome, it is a Burley Duet from the 90's.
Awesome fun watching Sai and Hank climbing the wall of doom. My partner own a 21 year old chromology steel Co-motion tandem. We our are Canadians in our sixties and don't do your wattage but we like the challenge as we have loaded our tandem with panniers (70lbs.) and rode across France from Nantes to Interlocken climbing up to see the Eiger (without panniers) and then onto San Remo, Italy). Challenging but worth the suffering! Lol Tandems test your relationship as the stoker is at the mercy of the captain. There's alot of pinching the captain's butt! Lol
Superb climbing on that lovely tandem. Very impressive. As the long time pilot of a slower tandem than yours I had to chuckle over the discussion between Si and Hank about the KOM time. You'd think they'd just get the same time but we once did a sportive and my Stoker got an official time 8 seconds slower than mine. The only conclusion we could come to was that our bike had lengthened over the course of the event! ☺
We have also ridden a few thousand miles on a Rodriguez tandem and set our pedals out of phase. We climbed best with the captain seated and the stoker up. The maximum number of riders in a pace line that followed us down hill was 16!
And if you are in the back seat at least the e-bike doesn't block your view and control the brakes!!! Let's face it... Not having the ability to feather the brakes on a descent in the backseat would be unsettling for most of us. And no, not the same as riding shotgun in a car! At least passenger seat in a car has seat belts, crumple zones and airbags, etc.!
LOL, I've often described riding a tandem with my wife is like a big heavy e-bike with a short circuit. (Usually goes out when we pass a farm with cute goats or sheep)
As a tandem captain myself I fully appreciate just how hard it is to get them up a hill (and mine is a rigid MTB with 28/38/48 triple chain rings although I usually refuse to change to the 28! Well done guys, great effort.
Very nice!! I recently competed in an event that had a LOT of climbing, though not quite as steep as "The Wall of Doom!" I remember watching a tandem serpentine up the hill. It was impressive to see them keep riding, even when the going got tough!
Having ridden a tandem for 25+ years, I can really appreciate you guys tackling this climb. I most always had a 24 on the front with a 34 on the back. Allez!
That there is some solid entertainment! We used to have an early 80’s Dawes Super Galaxy tandem. It was 20 years ago back when my wife and I first met. It was the most surreal experience. So much attention and sometimes positive attention! We cycled through Italy with all our camping gear in a bob yak trailer. It’s the only time fatigue drove me to tears.
We feel your pain - that was gut busting hilarious!! We are going to have to watch it again. Gave us a better understanding of the difficulty Mark and Hank dealt with on their epic tandem ride. 👍
I watched the Endtoend:tandem on GCN+ after (only watched racing since you launched it) and thought about how far GCN has come since the first GCN show with Dan (lol). Good job guys
And here I am in the PAC.NW (3hrs from Vancouver Canada). I’ve had a subscription for two yrs and have seen almost no racing (blocked out over here) so for my $50 I get the presenter videos and my fav-The Legends series.
I piloted my blind pal on his Tandem. He had bollocks of steel, I , on the other hand , lived in absolute terror of putting him on the deck. So I feel your pain ,lads. It is nothing like riding a normal cycle. Everything is so much harder. Survival is the goal. Well done chaps . Top men.
A friend and I did a hilly 200k in just over 4 hrs of riding time…5 hrs exactly including three rest stops and one ditch exploration. Max grade was 11% that we powered over while standing, never getting passed. On one 15 mi downwind stretch, we sat on the 45 mph speed limit.
Beautiful bike. The extra weight up high makes standing, steering, and climbing so wild. As a captain, you can feel any time your stoker even turns their shoulders. At least the downhills are fast!
I enjoy all that the GCN and GMBN bring to the cycling world. I wonder if in this case, as in a few of the sufferfest episodes that the bikes can be painfully bad for the situation. Hank and your poor undercarriage! I appreciate the media perspective and desire for interesting content, but as a long time endurance athlete and mechanic, I wonder about the details of these adventures. Put some reasonable gears on the Tandem and kick some hill climb asses. Who has done an Everest on a tandem. That kinda sounds like a Cookie Phil challenge with Hank! I double dog dare you Hank! Cheers to you all and keep up the great work!
Next on GCN Sy and Hank take on a gravel tandem challenge. :D That would be awesome, but maybe after Sy builds up his upper body strength. regardless, that was a great video to watch. Hank definitely has a solid foundation on how tandem teams operate, that maybe he can do a series of tandem 101 vids with other presenters. I wounder what would be funnier hank with Conner or Dan... Think there needs to be a GCN poll on the next presenter to take on a tandem challenge with Hank.
Well done Si and Hank! Really enjoyed watching you trying to tackle that hill - 25% on a tandem - just wow! Trying to do that on my own I would struggle...go lads!!!!!!!!!!
Brilliant video , Early 1990's my mate got me on the back of a tandem , the only time we got it moving was when a bloody big Doberman chased us down the road . Man did we have some arguments , fun memories now though
Great video I loved the line about needing to blow my nose I appreciate that as The. stoker on tandem for over 28 years I’m the blind hindquarters of our various tandems we’ve done many thousands of kilometres although most of those have been on recumbent tandem And just to make life interesting as we have got older my wife has decided we needed to tow my guide dog on a trailer behind our tandems sometimes over the southern alps of New Zealand Cheers
My wife and I love to ride our tandem. We enjoy those kind of hills in southern illinois. We have gotten stronger. But the first time there was something about the tandem that we kept going even though we we had exhausted all our energy. We collapsed sick at the top but we made it to the top. Easier now.
Bond Bug at 2:51 !!! Wow, crazy to see such an extraordinarily rare car just cruise by in the background of a vid. Only around a dozen left in the UK. A few hundred worldwide, mostly in museums or private collections and never driven.
The tandem epic in GCN+ looked absolutely horrendous, especially coming so soon after his other Lands End to John O’Groats challenge. Si having a great time in this video and Hank is just going ‘yep’.
Hi, fun video :-) You guys should do the Ronde van Vlaanderen - cyclo with this tandem, it would be a fun challenge. I have done it this year alone on a single bike (was already quite hard for an amateur like me) but I saw a couple on a tandem going up these 20% slopes on cobblestones... it was quite impressive.
A two person bicycle requires a certain level of tacit understanding. If two people step synchronously and cooperate perfectly, it can achieve high-speed cruising. I am the leader of a two person bicycle, yes. My partner is blind, but it's just the darkness of my environment and team. So I left. I am now looking for a team with a good environment to cooperate with. Thank you🎉
It's hard enough getting a tandem up a steep hill with the right gears. Doing it with those gears would be torture! I'm impressed with how Si did with very limited experience. I took me about 700 miles to get comfortable on the front of a tandem, after more than 100,000 miles on singles.
What would you like to see take on the Wall of Doom? Let us know down below 👇
A farthing penny
Hanks dad on an ebike
try tandem bike on gravel...
Dan on a BMX!
*that would make up for his failed promise from episode 1! 😝😂
Try the same bike but rotate the stocker chainring by 90°. It should result in a smoother ascent.
My 2 favorite gcn presenters in 1 video. When Hank doesn't want to do something you know it must be brutal
I think he was afraid Si would fart.
@@tquindt1 Perhaps you just discovered the motive behind the chamois cream attack.
Si? Really?
I used to edit the 'Tandem Club Journal' some years ago and was on the committee for several years so I (well we, my wife and I) have considerable tandem riding experience. Climbing is certainly the weak point of tandems, which are much faster than singles on both flat and (even more) down hill. That's the reason they generally have a much wider gear range than usual. There are numerous theories as why they're slow on climbs but I favour the one that the 2 riders are rarely in absolute sync so are less effective when the going gets tough uphill.
We've had a few tandems and our current one, a Cannondale, is geared to suit our advanced years (both 81) so our climbing gear is 30 x34 :) I don't think we would make the climb Simon and Hank did (even when we were younger) so well done, guys. Actually tandems are great fun and offer a wonderful way to ride together as a couple. We started tandemming 40 years ago when we got separated on a joint solo ride less than a mile after leaving home.
Chapeau! Still riding at 81 is something I aspire to.
I'm a couple of decades away from that venerable age but already slowing down.
Can’t go wrong with Sai’s and Hank’s chemistry. Need more of them again
Sai? He's not a dagger, mate...
@@TheSamwhyte or is he?
This is perfect GCN. Two friends having fun doing something extremely stupid related to bikes.
Interviews on a tandem should be a new thing. Interviewing either employees of GCN or even better pros on the back of the tandem!
Good idea!
Best idea ever!
That's guaranteed to put the interview to an early end inside a ditch, along with the tandem it was being recorded on.
Watch GMBN's Random Tandem video's then, plenty of interviews on a tandem. All MTB'ers though (good thing in my eyes)
@@2dcutout yeah. Some of Martyn Ashton’s interviews have been pretty class.
“I’m not buying you a carrot cake until we’ve done THE WALL OF DOOM”
Similar conversations I have with my three year old
These two are just naturally comical!😂
I've ridden 10's of thousands miles on a tandem and appreciate the difficulty of doing a climb like you did, great job. My cranks are set up out of phase I liked the smoother power transfer to the wheels with less peak stress on the power train. There is more of a learning curve to standing on the pedals together though. You have to be very linear in your pedaling and not rock the bike from side to side. Oh yah the stoker has a lot more control of where the bike goes than you say, if they don't lean into a turn you just might not make it out upright.The fastest I have ever gone on a bike was on my tandem, 65 mph. Passing all those single riders like they were standing still. Great video love the tandem.
I've heard it said that the stoker can't steer the tandem but can absolutely put it in the ditch. From the experiences my wife and I have had, that's very true.
Not rocking equals me not making any hill over 4 percent..
As a matter of interest, how much out of phase and who leads?
Our tandem is made by DaVinci Designs and has their independent coasting mechanism and a very wide gear range. We have never found climbing to be the challenge people warned us about. I wonder if that combination of features makes the difference? With independent coasting you can change your phase and timing at will.
@@alasdairmacdonald6730 Looking at my tandem from the right side or drive side the captains pedals are vertical to the ground with the right pedal forward, the stoker is set 90 degrees offset with the right side pedal in the down position horizontal to the ground.
Simon's cries of "My arms! My arms!" are definitely going to come back and haunt him.
They'll come back to haunt ghost hunters in the future too.
The jelly baby/chamois cream story had me properly rolling on the floor! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Don't tell Mark about that one lmao
Same! 😐😳😂😂🤣😂
chamois cream babies
I had just gotten it out out my mind, and now...
That was by far the funniest episode I've seen on GCN.
Great shot of a Bond Bug when you set off, couldn't have timed that better.
Definitely one of the funniest video's. Hank and Si are great together. Would like to see more of them.
Pissed myself when Hank said “Shall we get out the saddle?” And instantly did whilst Si was counting down 5:56 😂😂😂😂😂
Shows Si was not an experienced captain, if he was he would have known instantly. As an experienced stoker Hank should have followed the captain's lead, when done right it's like a dance, fluid and graceful.
Back in the day when I used to do a lot of tandem riding, when you went out in a pack all the solo bikes would use you as a locomotive on the flats and downhills and drop you on the climbs, the trick to getting rid of the leeches was to let them get just ahead over the climb and come bombing past on the descent, as we had a top gear of around 125 inches we would fly away from them, well for a short while...
Is Hank genuinely not up for it, or has his acting skills gone to the next level? 😀
Him and Mark's ultra endurance challenges has really gotten to Hank so basically he's slowly gaining PTSD whenever he sees a TT or Tandem bike
@@Obsidian72 xDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
He looks hungover if you ask me 😎
lol , i was thinking the same thing
In polite group rides, single bikes pull the tandems up hill in exchange for longer pulls on the flats, and high speed downhills. Singles that jump tandems on a climb will rue their poor manners as tandem led group whizzes by them on the down hill.
Try this technique for mounting tandem, especially with newer stokers:
1)Captain holds tandem, both feet on ground, bum on top tube to make it rock solid
2)Stoker climbs on and fully clips (or straps) in, presents right pedal to captain in 2:00-3:00 o'clock position when ready
3) Captain clips in right foot, counts in push off.
4) Get some momentum, stop pedaling momentarily to allow captain to clip in left foot if not able to do so on the fly.
Agreed. Best part of tandem riding is blasting by people on the downhills.
On our group ride our tandem drops the singles on any uphill less than three minutes.
Good description regarding the mounting technique. Works really well. That is how I was taught and how we taught newbies to get comfortable riding a tandem at Santana Europe at the bike shows in Germany in the mid 90s. I assume they still teach it this way. For beginners, the captain can forgo the clipping in of the foot on the pedal when starting. There is time to clip in both feet once you are on the move. And the captain needs to make sure feet are planted far apart when stoker positions the pedal forward so that the captain does not get their shin bumped by the pedal. Also, with this "stoker on first" technique the stoker can remain clipped in when the tandem comes to a stop (at a red light for example).
Without context, the audio on this one is extremely suggestive. "Are you in?" "Not, yet. There, I'm in." "How's that feel?" "Awful." And a whole lot of heavy breathing.
"I need to blow my nose"
"DON'T DO IT"
I'd be mortified if my partner had to ask "Are you in?" What are you SAYING?!!!!! Ha, ha!
... But since we've been riding tandem together for 30 years, she always knows when I'm in. How's that for the save?!
As someone that's had a tandem, you can't not squish after your rides. That's just how it is
Haha true 😂
Bro this made the video so good on another level. Especially at the end they are like "oh god!"
One of the funniest videos on GCN in a long time. My family kept calling to me from the other room why I was laughing so much. This was a magical comedy goldmine!
I agree awesome video but I wasn’t laughing. Several points I realized I was grinding my teeth. I’ve had to push my bike up 11% gradient so just thinking 24% made me shudder for Hank. Si, his idea, so no sympathy for him. Keep those videos coming our way. So good.
Had me in stitches! My wife and I got round La Marmotte (Glandon, Telegraphe, Galibier, Alpe d'Huez) in 10 hours on an old steel tandem. You need little gears, 180mm cranks and the stoker cranks need to be around 15 degrees past TDC when the Captain is at TDC. But the Alpe d'Huez was like spending 75 minutes on a leg-press machine in the Gym.
Alternative title: 17 minutes of Hank having PTSD
Comment to bump up the comment
17 minutes of Hank breathing Si's farts.
Post-Tandem Stress Syndrome
Hank's not the only one 😅
"Gotta at least beat bridgewood"
Is Ollie the yardstick to which everyone on GCN never allows themselves to fall below of?
Yeah no, basically Ollie is confined to the GCN tech show and sinking on a hydro bike these days.
That bike chain is the real MVP
get that ebike chain on there they easily withstand the 500+ w peak power of the middrive motors while pulling a (relatively) heavy bike up an insanely steep hill
Just got a tandem with my partner and I'm craving tandem content! Very little on UA-cam on performance, maintenance, whatever. Great video!
Pretty much, and you have to be a bit skeptical with LBS and tandems due to tandemisms. There are several tandem groups on Facebook that are worth checking out that has tandem builders and enthusiast on it.
I used to live in the house on the left at the bottom of Prospect Place. It was in my peak running days and every run from home strated up that hill. With a walk until I got to the top!
Great video, Hank looks as though he’s over tandem riding.
Last week my pilot and I went for a ride into Kangaroo Valley NSW Australia to tick a bucket list ride of mine to climb Barrengarry Mountain on my tandem. It was 563m vertical ascent at an Average gradient of 7.4% max 13%. We managed the round trip of 83km in 3hrs. But not only doing the ride but we beat my 7yo PB I had on my solo bike by a huge 3 mins.
Tandems can climb but at a steady pace.
Hank deserves a whole cake!
OH MY GOD, have GCN finally switched to an electric camera bike? AWESOME
I thought that too - if so then big kudos
I think it also depends where they are. If they are near to home base, its logistically practical.
Fantastic teamwork from these two! Really interesting to see how much communication you need to be effective on a tandem!
First of all - it’s absolutely hilarious and powerful duo Simon and Hank, so entertaining to watch! Very informative as well, like I’d never even come close to tandems after seeing this )
by far my favorite thing I've seen on GCN!!!
2:51 probably quite a bizarre sight for the other people in traffic and pedestrians, two guys in full kit on a race-tandem and some sort of weird orange contraption
It’s a bond bug made in the 70s
@@louisgreenleaf235 They're awesome!
@@louisgreenleaf235 oh cool, thanks! A little before my time, maybe that's why I didn't recognise it.
The timing of this video is so perfect. Am learning to ride a tandem with a brother, plan on doing a tour ride next summer with another brother. Though our tandem is not awesome, it is a Burley Duet from the 90's.
Awesome fun watching Sai and Hank climbing the wall of doom.
My partner own a 21 year old chromology steel Co-motion tandem. We our are Canadians in our sixties and don't do your wattage but we like the challenge as we have loaded our tandem with panniers (70lbs.) and rode across France from Nantes to Interlocken climbing up to see the Eiger (without panniers) and then onto San Remo, Italy). Challenging but worth the suffering! Lol Tandems test your relationship as the stoker is at the mercy of the captain. There's alot of pinching the captain's butt! Lol
Superb climbing on that lovely tandem. Very impressive.
As the long time pilot of a slower tandem than yours I had to chuckle over the discussion between Si and Hank about the KOM time. You'd think they'd just get the same time but we once did a sportive and my Stoker got an official time 8 seconds slower than mine. The only conclusion we could come to was that our bike had lengthened over the course of the event! ☺
😂
Hank probably hasn't believed in monsters since he was a boy but when he looked at the thing after his experience he believes in them now.
This is one of the best gcn episodes!
We have also ridden a few thousand miles on a Rodriguez tandem and set our pedals out of phase. We climbed best with the captain seated and the stoker up. The maximum number of riders in a pace line that followed us down hill was 16!
Ride on.
I'm a non tandem cyclist and wondering what is in phase and how you set the pedals out of phase.
I appreciate that the synchron chain is on the chain side.
Yuppers, there are some aero gains with right side timing chains.
GCN + is worth it just for the tandem race. It's epic
Simon: "It feels more like an e-bike..."
At least an e-bike motor doesn't get grumpy and you don't have to by it cake. :D
And if you are in the back seat at least the e-bike doesn't block your view and control the brakes!!! Let's face it... Not having the ability to feather the brakes on a descent in the backseat would be unsettling for most of us. And no, not the same as riding shotgun in a car! At least passenger seat in a car has seat belts, crumple zones and airbags, etc.!
@@colinmcdonald2499 Well, you do have some cushioning in front of you, if you know what I mean...
LOL, I've often described riding a tandem with my wife is like a big heavy e-bike with a short circuit. (Usually goes out when we pass a farm with cute goats or sheep)
Mine works for Coffee, cake had no effect.
Live free, Ride hard, Get stoked.
Watched the tandem challenge on gcn+ after this, absolutely unbelievable Hank is back on this bike. Mad respect
As a tandem captain myself I fully appreciate just how hard it is to get them up a hill (and mine is a rigid MTB with 28/38/48 triple chain rings although I usually refuse to change to the 28! Well done guys, great effort.
Si having a blast on a joyride and Hank on PTSD trip to memories of nightmare. Mixed together it does great comedy! :D
I have very fond memories of flying around Cumbrae on a tandem when I was younger with my brother. They can be quick when you want them to be!
2:52 The best thing ever seen on a GCMBEMBN video! The coolest 3 wheeler ever made.
This video had me giggling so much.
Brilliant video
Great video and I love the chemistry between Si &Hank. 😊😊
Set off, and what's following them? A Bond Bug! What a funny little car, appropriate for these two on a tandem! I think Hank was broken!
Hadn't seen one on the road for nigh on 40 years!
@@Llanchlo They did one up on Wheeler Dealers about 10 years ago. Not ever seen one in the flesh. Would lo ve to drive one.
Very nice!! I recently competed in an event that had a LOT of climbing, though not quite as steep as "The Wall of Doom!" I remember watching a tandem serpentine up the hill. It was impressive to see them keep riding, even when the going got tough!
Omg mates What a climb!! I feel for Hank, no water bottle but he did get the cake at the end 🙌🏽
Awesome video!!
Hank; "I was actually pretty stoked"...nice, as you were the stoker :)
After watching James's hard ride on GCN+ "End To End: Tandem," I definitely get why he might turn his nose up at that thing.
So it was a tandem (racing the length of England) that finally broke Hank, I was wondering if anything ever would.
And Scotland. The England part is flat 😜
Apart from the toughest climb on the route over Shap Fell.
Having ridden a tandem for 25+ years, I can really appreciate you guys tackling this climb. I most always had a 24 on the front with a 34 on the back. Allez!
Funniest video you lot have ever made. Worth it just for Hank's jelly baby story.
That there is some solid entertainment! We used to have an early 80’s Dawes Super Galaxy tandem. It was 20 years ago back when my wife and I first met. It was the most surreal experience. So much attention and sometimes positive attention! We cycled through Italy with all our camping gear in a bob yak trailer. It’s the only time fatigue drove me to tears.
We feel your pain - that was gut busting hilarious!! We are going to have to watch it again. Gave us a better understanding of the difficulty Mark and Hank dealt with on their epic tandem ride. 👍
I watched the Endtoend:tandem on GCN+ after (only watched racing since you launched it) and thought about how far GCN has come since the first GCN show with Dan (lol). Good job guys
And here I am in the PAC.NW (3hrs from Vancouver Canada). I’ve had a subscription for two yrs and have seen almost no racing (blocked out over here) so for my $50 I get the presenter videos and my fav-The Legends series.
I had to watch it a second time. "two pieces of cake". Love it!!
I piloted my blind pal on his Tandem. He had bollocks of steel, I , on the other hand , lived in absolute terror of putting him on the deck. So I feel your pain ,lads. It is nothing like riding a normal cycle. Everything is so much harder. Survival is the goal. Well done chaps . Top men.
14:07 Can't have been that bad as Simon seems to have put his glasses on during the climb! 😎
Haha! Good spot! Some continuity issues there...
A friend and I did a hilly 200k in just over 4 hrs of riding time…5 hrs exactly including three rest stops and one ditch exploration. Max grade was 11% that we powered over while standing, never getting passed. On one 15 mi downwind stretch, we sat on the 45 mph speed limit.
Beautiful bike. The extra weight up high makes standing, steering, and climbing so wild. As a captain, you can feel any time your stoker even turns their shoulders. At least the downhills are fast!
I enjoy all that the GCN and GMBN bring to the cycling world. I wonder if in this case, as in a few of the sufferfest episodes that the bikes can be painfully bad for the situation. Hank and your poor undercarriage! I appreciate the media perspective and desire for interesting content, but as a long time endurance athlete and mechanic, I wonder about the details of these adventures. Put some reasonable gears on the Tandem and kick some hill climb asses. Who has done an Everest on a tandem. That kinda sounds like a Cookie Phil challenge with Hank! I double dog dare you Hank! Cheers to you all and keep up the great work!
best gcn tandem... go hank... your two are my favorites
Small detail, but I liked the new e-bike cameraman! There is no motorbike engine buzzing around in the background. Nice upgrade champs!
Awesome. Sitting on a park bench, recharging my two headlights, resting my arse & drinking some water....awesome
Next on GCN Sy and Hank take on a gravel tandem challenge. :D That would be awesome, but maybe after Sy builds up his upper body strength.
regardless, that was a great video to watch. Hank definitely has a solid foundation on how tandem teams operate, that maybe he can do a series of tandem 101 vids with other presenters. I wounder what would be funnier hank with Conner or Dan... Think there needs to be a GCN poll on the next presenter to take on a tandem challenge with Hank.
Hank. At least your not riding Martyn Ashton's Random Tandem. You'd have even less say on where the tandem went with Martyn at the controls.
It’s official. We need more videos of Si and Hank riding together (tandem preferred). I swear I cheered for them in front of my tv.
So as an Ultra rider and Tandem rider these videos are awesome!! Thanks
I have a challenge for you: 100 miles in under four hours on that tandem. Shouldn't be too hard with these guys and good support and the right course.
Gotta say..that last shot of the final climb was freaking epic !!
Rode a 200km Audax on tandem yesterday, sma glen, moulin from Pitlochry and tullymurdoch from bleaton hallet, great fun, hard work.
Late to the show here but bravo guys! This video was so entertaining!
Well done Si and Hank! Really enjoyed watching you trying to tackle that hill - 25% on a tandem - just wow! Trying to do that on my own I would struggle...go lads!!!!!!!!!!
Brilliant video , Early 1990's my mate got me on the back of a tandem , the only time we got it moving was when a bloody big Doberman chased us down the road . Man did we have some arguments , fun memories now though
I haven't had this good a laugh in quite a while. Thanks, gents!🤣
Really enjoyed this. Love GCN's silly side.
Blimey! That was excellent. "Less talk, more watts!"
My legs are hurting just watching you two! OMG!
Smile, happy to see Hank stick up for himself
I'd love to see you guys tackle the steep hills here in New Zealand
Pinnacle hill just east of Pokeno is a challenging climb. New Zealand 🇳🇿
Great video
I loved the line about needing to blow my nose
I appreciate that as The. stoker on tandem for over 28 years I’m the blind hindquarters of our various tandems we’ve done many thousands of kilometres although most of those have been on recumbent tandem
And just to make life interesting as we have got older my wife has decided we needed to tow my guide dog on a trailer behind our tandems sometimes over the southern alps of New Zealand
Cheers
My wife and I love to ride our tandem. We enjoy those kind of hills in southern illinois. We have gotten stronger. But the first time there was something about the tandem that we kept going even though we we had exhausted all our energy. We collapsed sick at the top but we made it to the top. Easier now.
Bond Bug at 2:51 !!! Wow, crazy to see such an extraordinarily rare car just cruise by in the background of a vid. Only around a dozen left in the UK. A few hundred worldwide, mostly in museums or private collections and never driven.
My new favorite GCN video.
That looked brutal to be honest! Well done guys!
I just pushed my chair a few meters back while watching this. how much power!
Jesus, you guys destroyed Hank! Nowhere near the usual level of energy! xD
Sounded a bit sick??
The tandem epic in GCN+ looked absolutely horrendous, especially coming so soon after his other Lands End to John O’Groats challenge.
Si having a great time in this video and Hank is just going ‘yep’.
Hi, fun video :-) You guys should do the Ronde van Vlaanderen - cyclo with this tandem, it would be a fun challenge. I have done it this year alone on a single bike (was already quite hard for an amateur like me) but I saw a couple on a tandem going up these 20% slopes on cobblestones... it was quite impressive.
A two person bicycle requires a certain level of tacit understanding. If two people step synchronously and cooperate perfectly, it can achieve high-speed cruising. I am the leader of a two person bicycle, yes. My partner is blind, but it's just the darkness of my environment and team. So I left. I am now looking for a team with a good environment to cooperate with. Thank you🎉
It's hard enough getting a tandem up a steep hill with the right gears. Doing it with those gears would be torture!
I'm impressed with how Si did with very limited experience. I took me about 700 miles to get comfortable on the front of a tandem, after more than 100,000 miles on singles.
Tandems are hard work on long climbs but they don't half shift when you get them wound up on the flat and slight decent.
I'd love to see a Tandem Descent Vs 2 Bike Slip Streaming!
Such a laugh but such a great effort, this is what GCN is all about :)
I would love to see this with a rider like Manon. She has an amazing power to weight ratio and I wonder how much of a difference that would make.
For more tandem action, follow Ed Pratt's channel!
Best 2 presenters by a country mile! Brilliant video 🤣