More stopping power needed.

[eegretCL]

I have an 08 Cannondale Road Tandem 3.

The issue is stopping power on the rear brake. I have about 300 miles on the bike, and this is my first tandem, the team weight is 290. I can barely get the rear wheel to lock up when I have no stoker. The travel agents are set up correctly and the pads are properly adjusted. I run out of hand strength before the lever bottoms out. Does any one have suggestions on more stopping power? Would switching to a canti brake give me more power? Or is does this just go along with having 7 feet of cable.

[TandemGeek]

What did the dealer who sold it to you recommend when you reported what you have found to be sub-par brake performance?

[edzo]

switch to Nokon cable housing. it will fix the problem.

[eegretCL]

Nokons were their only suggestion.

[cornucopia72]

I have an 08 Cannondale Road Tandem 3.

The issue is stopping power on the rear brake. I have about 300 miles on the bike, and this is my first tandem, the team weight is 290. I can barely get the rear wheel to lock up when I have no stoker. The travel agents are set up correctly and the pads are properly adjusted. I run out of hand strength before the lever bottoms out. Does any one have suggestions on more stopping power? Would switching to a canti brake give me more power? Or is does this just go along with having 7 feet of cable.

I think something is wrong with the cables/housing that does not allow the pull to reach the brakes. Skidding a rear wheel with no stoker is the easiest thing to do with any brakes properly set.

[TandemGeek]

Nokons were their only suggestion.

Unless they offered to pick up the tab for the Nokon farkle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_farkle) and installation, I'd call shenanigans on that recommendation. That's not to say Nokon housing hasn't worked to improve shift/brake performance on other bikes, but your rear brake should work just fine the way it came from Cannondale... and your dealer should be working to make what you bought work well, not selling you high-margin upgrades.

I'd be more inclined to suspect that the rear brake cable housing running from the brake lever to the cable stop on the top tube is too long and/or that something else is amiss with the way the cable and housing were routed.

Now, to be fair, fresh brake pads and a fresh rim don't make for the greatest stopping power either. It takes a while for the rear rim to become seasoned with brake pad deposits and for the brake pads to wear in to the rim.

So, at least in my mind, unless you've really been working the rear brake over the past 300 miles you probably have both of these thing going on and in combination causing the unusually weak-performing rear brake.

As for going to a cantilever, all other things being equal the canti's will not have as much clamping power as the linear pull with the travel agent. There are other good reasons to go with cantilevers, but increasing stopping power isn't usually one of them.

[I'mnotdeadyet]

depending how dirty the assembly person's hands and process was, you could have greasy/oily pads and rims. Get some acetone and clean the pads and rims. The pads especially. If you get a lot of black, that just might be it. If oil was dripped on the rims, and then just wiped off, and/or had a few rotations of the wheel while braking, the pads are probably cooked. Try new ones. That's the first and cheapest place to start.
BTW, there's so much silicones/oils on the roads I will clean my rims on my road bikes after every ride. Of course I live in a very densely populated area.
Bob

[Richbiker]

Just to double check the installation of the travel agents: when the cable comes into the travel agent, it will go counter-clockwise around a small inner groove on the pulley, up to a hole that passes it to the outer groove, where it will continue around the pulley counter clockwise. That hole should be at the 1 or 2 o'clock position when everything is set up, and the brake levers are released, not being pulled. If that hole is at say the 4 or 5 o'clock position, the travel agent won't get enough leverage or pull on the brakes. If your front brake is working properly, and the rear is not, compare the "clock" position of the hole in the travel agent's pulley; my guess is the front one will be at 1 or 2 o'clock, and the back one isn't. Just a guess though.

A second idea: the brake pads probably came with a set of washers/spacers to align it with the rim. Usually there will be two concave spacers: a thick one and a thin one. Put the thick one between the pad and the brake arm, while the thin one goes outside between the brake arm and the nut that holds the whole assembly together. This might also help with the leverage issue by spreading the arms a little further out. Here are some diagrams & pictures from Park Tool (scroll down a bit): http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=21

Another idea (in addition to the clean your pads & rims, check the housing run, etc), change the brake pads to cool stop salmon colored ones. But that won't help if something is awry with the cable routing/travel agent.

Rich

[zonatandem]

. . . all great suggestions.
Also remove the cable, check for possible kink or fraying, make sure cable easily slips through the housing.

[SugarHillGMC]

We ride LOTS of hills (live in the White Mountains of NH) and have Magura hydraulic rim brakes front and rear on our C'dale RT3000. They stop almost as good as the Hope 4 piston calipers with 8" rotors on our Ventana FS

The trade off for the Maguras is no STI shifting, but I have been using bar ends for 18+ years on road tandems. IMHO, the trade off is well worth the excellent stopping power.

[Front Half]

Have you considered a 'Brake Booster'? This is a flat, horseshoe shape that is attached to the brake-mounting bolts to reduce / eliminate brake-frame flexing.

Jim