Tandem Cycling - Finally...good braking!

We've had our '98 Burley Rumba Softride for a couple of months now and I've never been that happy with the braking from its Shimano cantilevers. Last weekend, we were coming down a hill and I saw the intersection we were supposed to make a right turn at...a bit too late.

There was now way I could slow the bike down enough to make the turn and we had to roll through the intersection and turn around. Luckily, we were out in the country and there were no cars around. Phew!

After that, I resolved to improve the braking before we weren't so lucky. I had the LBS order the Tektro Mini-V brakes that Burley now uses. When I picked up the bike today, they said they needed to add travel agents to get a decent feel. Boy, did they ever! Much improved braking, especially when squeezing the brakes on and off rather than just hanging onto them.

Luckily, the travel agent cleared our rack brackets, so there were no complications from the change-over.

ADd a Brake Booster Like this DKG and you will be even more surprise


the Flexing at the Brake mounts takes a sustancial part of the braking power , the minute you mitigate that fenomenum the brakes will reach a lot faster with much better modulation and overall power

hope this helps,,put it this way the XTR V-brakes on the bike offer better braking power that the 205MM HOpe downhill brakes..

ADd a Brake Booster Like this DKG and you will be even more surprise


the Flexing at the Brake mounts takes a sustancial part of the braking power , the minute you mitigate that fenomenum the brakes will reach a lot faster with much better modulation and overall power

hope this helps,,put it this way the XTR V-brakes on the bike offer better braking power that the 205MM HOpe downhill brakes..

Brake boosters have been around for years and work exceptionally well. Surprised that more Tandems don't use them. My problem with "V" brakes was fading after quite a few miles off road, which did not help with the Pilots hands suddenly losing power. We went to Hope Mono M4 brakes with 200mm disc, and there is no comparison. Brakes work superbly in all conditions and weather. The only thing we have lost is Rim wear. (We Knocked out Rhino Lites in about 6 months.)

Brake boosters have been around for years and work exceptionally well. Surprised that more Tandems don't use them.yeah i wonder about that my self, i'm being ussing them for the last 18/20 years,,best trick ever for canti's or V-brakes


My problem with "V" brakes was fading after quite a few miles off road, which did not help with the Pilots hands suddenly losing power. We went to Hope Mono M4 brakes with 200mm disc, and there is no comparison. Brakes work superbly in all conditions and weather. The only thing we have lost is Rim wear. (We Knocked out Rhino Lites in about 6 months.)


well that is why I develope my little "Pennytech" Two brake per wheel sistem...


works like a Dream,,well a little heavier but I can always trust i have sufficient Power to stop the bike any time we need..well traction becomes a issue but is not super critical if you run great tyres.


I will say for How simple and cheap are to install the "Fork brace" a.k.a. brake booster is the way to go,,not to mension the venerable SCOOT "Pettersen" self energize ,,,oh man you want to talk about LACK of modulation and worn out rims but they DID STop in a dimme..

Had never any problems with self-energizing brakes whatsoever . . .

Had never any problems with self-energizing brakes whatsoever . . .


Oh No SCOTT's are amazing, specially with some sticky WINWOOD pads or the old aircool RED mathousers (what ever you spell it)

but do you need to agree the Mecanical advantage provide with the self energize brakes can get a little "out of control" and get "a mind of their own"specially if the rims was getting worn out and the pads catch on the rim lip somehow.
don't take me wrong I love them, trust them and respect them, those little "HElics" save my B^^T a million times, since in the 80' they were by far the best possible choice for heavy Dutty stopping power.

Actually used a set of Matthauser pads (red) on Mafac cantilevers and they lasted over 50,000 miles on the rear of our tandem. Awesome!
Those pads were a bit pricey (around $20 as I recall), but what is your team's life worth?

... or the old aircool RED mathousers (what ever you spell it)

Scott-Mathauser OR Scott/Mathauser if you prefer...

Scott-Mathauser OR Scott/Mathauser if you prefer...

Thanks I'm not only Dixlexic, my ingles Sucks too..

I had the LBS order the Tektro Mini-V brakes that Burley now uses. When I picked up the bike today, they said they needed to add travel agents to get a decent feel.

I'm confused, wouldn't longer V brakes give you more braking leverage than the Mini-V brakes?? It seems to me that using Travel Agents with Mini-V brakes defeats the whole purpose of using Mini-V's which I thought was to be more compatible with road levers.

-murray

I'm confused, wouldn't longer V brakes give you more braking leverage than the Mini-V brakes?? It seems to me that using Travel Agents with Mini-V brakes defeats the whole purpose of using Mini-V's which I thought was to be more compatible with road levers.

There are quite a few variables associated with how linear-pull and cantilever brakes will perform on a given tandem / installation (frame/fork, bosses, brake, pads, cable, travel agents, levers, rim, tires, etc.) and, as a result, there's not always a direct correlation between mechanical advantage and stopping power. In fact, you can end up with poor brake performance by having too much mechanical advantage or poor modulation (i.e., the ability to exercise precise control over your brakes).

If you haven't taken the time to read it, Sheldon Brown (as usual) has an excellent dissertation on cantilever brake performance and set-up that may yield some hints with regard to how you can improve the performance of your cantilever and linear-pull brakes: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-geometry.html

And, while you're there, you might want to read and bookmark his writings on tandems and brakes:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tandem-brakes.html

I'm confused, wouldn't longer V brakes give you more braking leverage than the Mini-V brakes?? It seems to me that using Travel Agents with Mini-V brakes defeats the whole purpose of using Mini-V's which I thought was to be more compatible with road levers.

-murray

I actually thought the same thing. The way it worked out was I ordered the Mini-V brakes and the shop installed them. When they tested them, they weren't happy with the braking feel and decided to add travel agents. I'm wondering if the old RSX levers might be part of the problem. They old cantis required quite a bit of pull to do their job.

Yes, it seems that looking back, they might as well have used regular V-brakes. But, hey, on our 50 mile ride at near 100 degree temps, the bike stopped when we wanted it to :)