Dan,
I apologize if my answer seemed as though you "should've known." That was not my intent. Perhaps from being near deaf from 22+ years of flying jets caused me to not hear your question correctly.
For the others reading this.... I am the Captain and 1/2 of the owners of the above mentioned Pinarello Tandem.
The bike came standard with Avid disc brakes on both wheels. I added a caliper to the rear wheel which I control with the right brake lever up front.
The rear disc was re-cabled and is now controlled by my "lovely stoker" with a bar end "shifter" (acting as a friction brake lever).
She ratchets in however much brake I call for. We use a verbal scale of 1 to 5. 1 being just a touch of brake. 5 being....give it all to me baby!
I like the drag/disc combo for 2 reasons.
1. We do climb LOTS of hills and therefore have long descents to contend with. Using the rear disc keeps us from overheating the rims.
2. My hands also fatigue on those long descents with prolonged braking and having the friction lever for the stoker gives me some much needed relief.
We have NEVER overheated a disc. They actually seem bulletproof to me.
If anyone has any other questions, let me know.
Jeff & Jo
http://gallery.me.com/jaguar508#1000...&bgcolor=black
http://gallery.me.com/jaguar508#1000...&bgcolor=black