Tandem Cycling - Almost Here

Hmmm... don't quite know what happened here. But she's almost home. LBS called this afternoon to say our new Raleigh Coupe is in final vehicle assembly and will be ready for her maiden voyage tomorrow. I am having the standard flat bars replaced with some 35mm rise, 6* sweepback bars. Went by the shop to look at her this evening even though the work wouldn't be finished. What a beauty. Now the questions. First, as some of you may know the Coupe comes with Avid BB7 6" discs F/R. From reading other threads this bothers some of you. I wonder why a major manufacturer with no gun to its head would introduce a new technology at the lower mid-level pricepoint when it really takes top of the line equipment to do the job? The LBS says the brakes cannot be changed or upgraded. Not even the 8" discs are an option for us it would appear. Our previous tandem had v-brakes which I had no issue with until our trip through Staten Island. Victory boulevard completely overwhelmed the brakes and the urban situation made a runnout inadvisable. I am new to tandem physics but I read a great deal. I know what drag brakes are but I thought they were a loaded touring necessity. Maybe not?? So, what can we expect from the 6" Avids? Will they be up to long descents on an unloaded (320lb team) road tandem? A drag brake is out of the question here but there are standard v-brake bosses in place. Should we get a second set of conventional brakes? Any thoughts?

H

First, as some of you may know the Coupe comes with Avid BB7 6" discs F/R. From reading other threads this bothers some of you. I wonder why a major manufacturer with no gun to its head would introduce a new technology at the lower mid-level pricepoint when it really takes top of the line equipment to do the job? The LBS says the brakes cannot be changed or upgraded. Not even the 8" discs are an option for us it would appear. Our previous tandem had v-brakes which I had no issue with until our trip through Staten Island. Victory boulevard completely overwhelmed the brakes and the urban situation made a runnout inadvisable. I am new to tandem physics but I read a great deal. I know what drag brakes are but I thought they were a loaded touring necessity. Maybe not?? So, what can we expect from the 6" Avids? Will they be up to long descents on an unloaded (320lb team) road tandem? A drag brake is out of the question here but there are standard v-brake bosses in place. Should we get a second set of conventional brakes? Any thoughts?

H

Brakes may be adequate so give them a try first. In the UK, and no link for it I am afraid, You can get an adaptor to enable you to fit a 20mm larger disc. In fact On my Hope M4's I have fitted a 200mm rear disc and have just such a spacer and is a Hope accessory.

Braking with disc brakes is different to rim brakes- Allow the speed to build up and brake hard to bring the speed down and then release the brakes. Too high a speed- Brake hard again and release. This will give the brakes time to cool down but you may have an option of fitting a Harder pad. I have only ever used these and one of the drawbacks is supposed to be increased disc wear and a bit of Brake squeal. Have not noticed the disc wear but we do squeal a bit. We have taken in a few steep descents and had the Disc a dull orange and no lessening of power. We weigh 400lbs all up and have not found any problems on stopping, but one thing we have found is that we use a lot more front brake with Disc brakes- so keep an eye on pad wear.

I suspect you're not going to climb/descend L'ALpe D'Huez on this rig, so the brakes will be fine. If you note they're not perfect and therefore you want a change, I can guarantee you'll be saying the same thing about other parts of the gruppo. So learn what works for you and what doesn't and have fun doing so!!!!