Disc vs. Caliper continued - How about both?

[merlinmurph]

A continuation of the caliper vs. disc wars...

My wife and I were getting on the ferry to Islesboro ME and a couple with a gorgeous Eriksen tandem were getting on also. The couple run a touring company called Adventures in Tandem and their bike had all sorts of cool stuff. Take a look.

2020-08-05_08-25-37 by Dan Murphy, on Flickr

Take a close look at the rear wheel:
2020-08-05_08-25-10 by Dan Murphy, on Flickr



Yup, there's both a disc brake with a large rotor and a caliper brake controlled by the stoker. That's what the lever on the stoker's bars is for.

[Jeff N.]

That rascal cost a pretty penny.

[jtakeda]

Belt drive and chain driven too

[GregL]

While it used to be fairly common for tandem tourists to use a drum drag brake, that’s the first time I’ve seen a mini-v used for that purpose. It will probably work fine if the descents aren’t too long or steep, but I’d be concerned about fade on a long downhill.

Greg

[pdmtong]

...

[Coffee Rider]

There is some gorgeous work in there.

[Mark McM]

A variation on a common scheme. Tandems can go much faster downhill than singles (twice the frontal area with twice the weight), so it is common for a tandem to employ a drag brake in addition to the standard brakes. And it is also not uncommon for the drag brake to be operated by the stoker.

But the usual system used to be to use a drum brake as the drag brake. Several companies made these drum brakes, usually outfitted with large cooling fins to disipated the high brake energy required. Since this bike uses another form of hub brakes (discs), there's no place to install a drum brake, so they went with a rim brake instead. I'm not sure it's a good idea to drag a rim brake like that, though.

[tomato coupe]

I'd go with a smaller axe to save weight.

[muz]

This makes no sense. The stoker can easily burn the caliper pads and even cause a rear blowout by applying the "drag brake" on a long descent. If anything, the two brakes should be reversed. I am guessing this tandem doesn't ride anywhere where the drag brake is actually needed.

[Ken Robb]

Wouldn't a relatively "fade-proof" front disc reduce the importance of the rear brake? BTW, I don't think a tandem has double the aero drag because the stoker is in the draft of the rider up front.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

BTW, I don't think a tandem has double the aero drag because the stoker is in the draft of the rider up front.

Doh! I meant to say "the same front area with twice the weight."

[cmbicycles]

Originally Posted by jtakeda

Belt drive and chain driven too

Belt and chain + disc and v-brake = they cant make up their mind about anything... probably a mix of Campy, Sram and Shimano there too.

[Davist]

Don't tandems typically have the cranks synched? These are outta phase by a couple belt links or whatever they're called..

[pdmtong]

That tandem is blingtastic because it’s also a business write off

Mech discs make it easier to travel but work poorly compared to hydro especially in a tandem. The bb7 203 I had was ok and spongey compared to the one finger stopping of the six piston hopes I have now on our full suspension mtb tandem

That v brake in the rear...Why bother? What would that contribute relative to the rear disc?

Common now for timing chain to be gates belt idk they are slightly out of synch. Sometimes it’s just preference driven by the pedal position people like when pushing off

[CNY rider]

It's gorgeous but if I was spending a bazillion dollars on a tandem that's not how I would want it set up.