Re: Tandem brakes



T

Tony Raven

Guest
Colin Blackburn wrote:
>
> [Aside: The stoker got off and took the toddler from the seat. As she
> walked towards me I noticed she had a Che Guevara (sp?) t-shirt on. Right
> next to me was a Skoda with a Che Guevara stencil on the boot lid. She
> noticed the car's stencil and said to the toddler, "Look Che, it's Che!"
> It turned out the toddle was named Che, after Che G.]
>


Boy, that takes me back. I thought he was long gone and forgotten amongst the
young today.

> When I went in for the next round I had a look at the then parked up
> tandem, an Orbit, and noticed it had both disc and V brakes on the rear
> wheel. I know tandems need very efficient brakes but is it normal to have
> two rear brakes in addition to a front brake? Is the second rear brake
> used in conjunction with the first or as an emergency brake? Are the two
> rear levers both on the pilot's bars? (I forgot to look, I had had a few
> pints of Kamikaze by then.)
>


Many tandems have double rear brakes. One is used as the normal brake and one
actuated with a thumbshifter as a drag brake to keep the speed under control
on hills. Unlike a single, the back brake is equally effective as the front
on a tandem. The drag brake stays constantly on during the descent, hence the
use of a thumbshifter to set it, but that means it gets very hot. Usually
disc brakes are not recommended as they are not designed to cope with that
amount of heat. The standard is an Arai drum brake which has a big finned
outer to disippate the heat. So the sequence is to set the thumbshifter to
give background braking to keep your speed under control and then use the
normal rear brake lever if you need to slow more at any point.

Tony
 
"Tony Raven" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Colin Blackburn wrote:
> >
> > [Aside: The stoker got off and took the toddler from the seat. As she
> > walked towards me I noticed she had a Che Guevara (sp?) t-shirt on. Right
> > next to me was a Skoda with a Che Guevara stencil on the boot lid. She
> > noticed the car's stencil and said to the toddler, "Look Che, it's Che!"
> > It turned out the toddle was named Che, after Che G.]
> >

> Boy, that takes me back. I thought he was long gone and forgotten amongst the
> young today.


He did a lot for the world. He put Fidel in power in Cuba, and then Cuba
drained the USSR economically to the stage where it collapsed. So Che
ultimately demolished world communism.

Now if only someone would do the same for the US....

The rest of the post is on topic and about bikes, so it's snipped.

OBTW Tony, Che never wore a helmet, even in a combat zone, so he might be a good
role model for you and Guy :)
--
"To ... just not care that there are naked triathletes running
across your lawn, that's just a waste of exhibitionism."
- Kibo, in alt.religion.kibology
 
[email protected] schreef ...

> Many tandems have double rear brakes. One is used as the normal brake and one
> actuated with a thumbshifter as a drag brake to keep the speed under control
> on hills. Unlike a single, the back brake is equally effective as the front
> on a tandem. The drag brake stays constantly on during the descent, hence the
> use of a thumbshifter to set it, but that means it gets very hot. Usually
> disc brakes are not recommended as they are not designed to cope with that
> amount of heat.


Not only are they "not recommended", it is bloody dangerous to do this!
When (not if) everything starts to melt back there you're left with only
your front brake. Oops!

Just recently I heard of a couple who wanted both a Rohloff hub *and* a
drag brake on their tandem. Someone at their LBS had simply said that a
disc brake on the Rohloff would be just fine for this...... Luckily they
came into contact with the people who will actually build the tandem and
who said "no way!". So now they are in doubt: drag brake and derailleur
or no drag brake and Rohloff?! Decisions, decisions, decisions ..... :->

> The standard is an Arai drum brake which has a big finned
> outer to disippate the heat. So the sequence is to set the thumbshifter to
> give background braking to keep your speed under control and then use the
> normal rear brake lever if you need to slow more at any point.


For the design freaks: IMHO the neatest way to control an Arai is
through a front Grip Shift lever.

--
Regards,
Marten
 
Marten Hoffmann wrote:
>
> Not only are they "not recommended", it is bloody dangerous to do this!
> When (not if) everything starts to melt back there you're left with only
> your front brake. Oops!
>


You'd still have your second back brake and IIRC one of the Magura disc models
is rated for tandems

> Just recently I heard of a couple who wanted both a Rohloff hub *and* a
> drag brake on their tandem. Someone at their LBS had simply said that a
> disc brake on the Rohloff would be just fine for this...... Luckily they
> came into contact with the people who will actually build the tandem and
> who said "no way!". So now they are in doubt: drag brake and derailleur
> or no drag brake and Rohloff?! Decisions, decisions, decisions ..... :->


Disc brakes on tandems have been know to melt the grease in the hubs ;-(

>
> For the design freaks: IMHO the neatest way to control an Arai is
> through a front Grip Shift lever.


Which is what I use, fitted on a Minoura space grip off the stem as there was
no room on the bars.

Tony
 
[email protected] schreef ...
> Marten Hoffmann wrote:
> >
> > Not only are they "not recommended", it is bloody dangerous to do this!
> > When (not if) everything starts to melt back there you're left with only
> > your front brake. Oops!
> >

>
> You'd still have your second back brake ...


.... true, IF your tandem actually has two back brakes and not just one
(disk) in the back.

> ...and IIRC one of the Magura disc models is rated for tandems


Two, even: both Gustav M and Julie Tandem are rated for tandems. But NOT
(and they will put this in bold and underlined letters) for use as a
drag brake, only as a normal brake. I reacted on the suggestion, you
could use the disk brake as a drag brake, something you never should do.

> > Just recently I heard of a couple who wanted both a Rohloff hub *and* a
> > drag brake on their tandem. Someone at their LBS had simply said that a
> > disc brake on the Rohloff would be just fine for this...... Luckily they
> > came into contact with the people who will actually build the tandem and
> > who said "no way!". So now they are in doubt: drag brake and derailleur
> > or no drag brake and Rohloff?! Decisions, decisions, decisions ..... :->

>
> Disc brakes on tandems have been know to melt the grease in the hubs ;-(


I can imagine they would, but personally never heard of this happening.
We'll find out this summer when we go out on our Julie-ed tandem.

> > For the design freaks: IMHO the neatest way to control an Arai is
> > through a front Grip Shift lever.

>
> Which is what I use, fitted on a Minoura space grip off the stem as there was
> no room on the bars.


Smart :)

--
Regards,
Marten
 

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