Need help with rear brakes on a TE recumbent clone

Robert Box

Need some help concerning the brakes on my Tour Easy recumbent clone. I have posted on
recumbents.rec also. I am running 20" front and 26" (559)rear tires. Got some Odyessy caliper brakes
, that run on many older freestyle and bmx bikes,and and set up the frame / forks for them. Front
brake works like a charm. Super braking with it.

But the rear is a sad story. It would only slow the bike. And not slow it a great deal. Will not
slide the rear wheel even in the dirt. Dragging your feet is much betterthan using rear brake.

So, I put a "Bulldog" caliper on the rear. I these are Dia-Compe.

Like these. http://www.cyclepath.ca/products/itm00034.htm

Readjust everthing and same story. Both of these calpers are well made, beefy construction, that do
not appear to flex ect. And as I said, the front one works great.

Dug around in my parts boxes and found a no name steel caliper that came off an old Murray comfort
bike. Installed on the rear , adjust ect. Now decent brakes , but not great .

I used cable stops on the frame to cut housing length to a minimum. So , I do not think housing is
compressing . Good Dia-compe pads that have been successifully used on other projects. Pivot bolts
lubed, brake pads properly toed in . The pads are in the center of the adjusting slots on the
caliper, not out at the ends. I have put the same Odyssey calipers on a custom cruiser of mine with
good results.

My question, what gives? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks