Tandem Cycling - Cable splitters

Our Co-Pilot has 3 cable spitters - 2 for the deraillers & 1 for the rear brake. While preparing the bike for our trip, I decided to replace the cables (mistake). In doing so, one of the set screws on the brake splitter stripped. This is not just a tandem specific part, not just a coupled tandem specific part but arguably one of the most important fasteners on the bike. With 2 days before the trip, I was worried. Fortunately, Da Vinci Designs (who makes the spitters) is about 20 minutes from where I work & I was able to get a set a lunch yesterday. I asked them why the splitters weren't made out of stainless (instead of aluminum) to avoid stripping the threads & they said that they had very few complaints about them.

Anyway, I was able to recover in time. This also caused me to question the need for a splitter for the rear brake cable. We have Dia Compe 287V brake levers with "V" brakes & no Travel Agents. It would seem nearly as easy to disconnect the cable from the brake arm as to disconnect the splitter. This would eliminate another point of failure in the braking system.

Has anyone else had problems with the splitters? I design mechanical equipment for a living & set screws are often seen as a necessary evil (they often don't work).

Has anyone else had problems with the splitters? I design mechanical equipment for a living & set screws are often seen as a necessary evil (they often don't work).

Cheeky answer, but I have not because I don't have splitters on ours. My only experience with set/grub screws is with knobs, towel racks and some other small applications that I don't specifically recall. They work okay in those instances.

Did you pick up a spare or two for your trip?

We have 8 cable splitters (two on each cable) for the rear brake, the F and R DR's, and the drag brake. This is in our triple cabrio..... they work great! Sonner or later I will have to replace one of those cables and I need to make sure that the mid section remains exactly the same size... you see, right now I can remove the mid section of the triple with the mid section of the cables without doing nothing but the smnallest of adjustments. I will order a couple of splitters to have as a backup.

cornucopia72 - I can visualize how you have done this. Da Vinci sells the splitters in a package of 3 (2 der & 1 brake) in a package for $32. The reason I say that set screws don't often work is that if you tighten too little, the cable will pull out. If you tighten too much, the threads can strip. They spec the torque at 12 in-lbs (I recall). This is a bit hard to measure on a 2mm allen wrench.

Saved again by Todd !
We do not replace cables unless there is a problem. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Have had derailleur cables fray/break, but never a brake cable in 32+ years of tandeming.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

If you tighten too much, the threads can strip.

...or the hex-head can also become rounded-off. The latter happened to my rear derailleur's splitter and I had to drill the thing out. However, I opted to see how it worked with just the one of the pinch screws and filled-in the drilled out hole with black RTV sealant. So far so good, but I probably need to get an extra set of the splitters "just in case".