Tandem Cycling - Brake Poll

So what do you guys run on your road tandems?

It depends...

Both road tandems can run front caliper / rear disc, but are rarely set up that way even though all of the various disc brake bits are on hand, e.g., calipers, rotors, and cut-to-length control cables and housings. So, I guess for clarification I'd need to know what you're hoping to discover in your poll before 'checking a box'.

In other words, unless we decided to attack Brasstown Bald, to headed up to Chattanooga to tackle Lookout Mountain, or were headed off on tour to a destination where we 'might' encounter some challenging terrain, all you'll likely see on our tandems are dual calipers.

I'll do "it depends" as well. Rim brakes 95% of the time. If I know we are going to be doing steep descents with tight switchbacks, I'll put on the drum temporarily.

Front DuraAce caliper; rear Tektro-Mini V-brake.
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

F/R Avid BB7 with 203mm rotaaaars.

Rim in front, disc in rear. So far that's been plenty.

Shimano 08 XTR Vbrakes in front and Avid Disc in the rear.

So, I guess for clarification I'd need to know what you're hoping to discover in your poll before 'checking a box'.



I'm still equivocating onputting a disc on for Everest Challenge.

From some of the threads on discs, it seems tht people either like them,or think they're a total PITA.

So the poll was just to get an idea of how mainstream discs are, and how common it is to run just 2 rim brakes.

Looks like rim brakes are in the lead so far. But that may, or may not, reflect that there are more older than newer tandems in use.

...or think they're a total PITA.

They're only a PITA for two groups:

1. Peeps who ended up with overly-complicated systems that required a lot more knowledge and time to keep properly adjusted than was afforded to those systems.

2. Peeps who ended up with even the most simple systems that required more knowledge and time to keep properly adjusted than was afforded to those systems.


.So the poll was just to get an idea of how mainstream discs are, and how common it is to run just 2 rim brakes.

The decision to run a rear disc ILO of a rear rim brake is something you make during an epic moment on a challenging descent when your rim brakes begin to out gas and fade while your butt puckers as you set up for the 8th of 10 switchbacks and say to yourself, "I've got too much to lose to be pushing the limits of these brake and tires: I'm putting a friggin' disc on this thing."

Of course, after you get the disc on the thing you'll take that same descent a bit faster and push it a bit harder and say to yourself as your disc brake is starting to out gas and squeal while you set up for the 9th of 10 switchbacks, "I'm an idiot; I've got way too much to lose when nothing's really at stake here".

As for the net weight penalty, it's about 325 grams: (Rotor adapter + rotor + bolts + caliper + caliper mount) - (rim brake).

I was just thinking earlier today, I must be one of the only people who still has two bikes in the garage set up with U brakes in the rear (87 Fisher single, long ago converted to a cruiser, and the Rodriguez Tandem circa 1990). Well, that idea didn't last too many years. What the heck, I can still find pads.......

The bike came with a drum brake which failed years ago. No problem as my stoker will not let me take us down steep hills.

Campy Record dual pivots front and rear.

Had a rear U-brake in the '80s on our Colin Laing tandem. Worked great, especially with the shorter cable run. But the brake did catch all the crap thrown up from the road.

Tektro medium reach dual pivot front.

Tekto extra-long reach dual pivot rear.

Both attached to pre-2000 Campag Ergo brake lever/shifters (8 spd)

Both with Mavic stickers, which usually fools everybody.

- Luis

My rear disc was a total PITA. It was either defective or mislabeled and Avid does NOT support these for tandems. Then there's the rack mounting problems.

My rear disc was a total PITA. It was either defective or mislabeled and Avid does NOT support these for tandems. Then there's the rack mounting problems.

Was this on the Trek T2000 and, if so, what model year?

Was this on the Trek T2000 and, if so, what model year?

2003 Trek T2000.
Long version from T&H archives;
We are are a 270 lb team riding MN bike trails and country roads with many 50 mph downhills. I'm guessing we have 12,000 miles on the Trek.

Front brakes-original Avid steel fork with Avid Shorty 6 cantilevers and
original pads or KoolStop salmon pads didn't have much power
-ChucksBikes carbon fork with Avid Shorty 6 cantilevers and Koolstop salmon
pads still didn't have much power
-OuzoPro fork with BR7700 DuraAce dual pivot with the original old pads was
scary, with new Koolstop salmon pads it's acceptable. I am so excited to
have this finally working okay.

Rear brakes-Avid Shorty 6 cantilevers with Koolstop salmon pads won't even
lock up the back tire. Rear wheel is very true, pads are adjusted very close
to wheel, (new)cable housing ends filed smooth and well seated, and I'm
still pulling the DuraAce (9 speed) brifter into the handlebars.
-Avid BB7 road disc has been the biggest PITA. 2 special adaptors required
and needed custom rack made. It barely gets enough cable pull when things
are perfect to stop the bike ok but it still won't skid the tire. LBS
confirmed it's set up properly and Avid told LBS they don't support it for
tandem use. Someone should tell Cannondale. I suspect we cooked the rotor
recently on a short steep hill and it has been unusable (can't get enough
cable pull) since so I took it off yesterday and put the cantilevers back
on. The disc was nice for wet riding, winter riding, and keeping the wheel
clean.

2003 Trek T2000... Avid BB7 road disc has been the biggest PITA. 2 special adaptors required and needed custom rack made.

Fortunately, Trek corrected the rear disc mounts in '06 so the bolt-on disc adapter part is no longer required; I.S. mounts are now integrated into the rear drop-outs. Not sure if they solved the rack mount issue or not; however, Tubus has several different rack mounts that can solve most of the disc brake interference issues and, well, they're racks are pretty slick to boot.


It barely gets enough cable pull when things are perfect to stop the bike ok but it still won't skid the tire.

Did you ever experiment by adding a compression spring between the cable stop and reaction arm or, perhaps, by installing an In-Line Travel Agent to correct for pull? Also, what size rotor are you running?


Avid told LBS they don't support it for tandem use. Someone should tell Cannondale.

I believe Cannondale, Co-Motion, daVinci and others who have been offering the Avid BB7 Road with the 203mm rotors as primary brakes began to do so when Avid was still a small Colorado-based company. Of course, even then they would not support the BB7 Road as a supplemental drag brake. Regardless, after SRAM acquired Avid I believe the hand shake endorsement of the Avid for any tandem use was pulled back, despite an overwhelming amount of consumer success with the brake.

Did you ever experiment by adding a compression spring between the cable stop and reaction arm or, perhaps, by installing an In-Line Travel Agent to correct for pull? Also, what size rotor are you running?

Yes, I did experiment with a spring but cable return was not the problem. Travel Agent might have helped because it acted like it just needed more cable pulled. That's why I suspect that it was mislabeled as a road brake instead of a MTB brake. After smoking the 203mm rotor on a short hill it came off and I'm not wasting any more time with Avid. Of course it's not a drag brake, but I have better power and capacity from my rim brakes.

I'm a little surprised that no one voted for 2 rims and a rear disc.

If you wanted a ton of stopping power, and security from both over heating your rims, or losing the disc to fade, it would appear to give you a lot to work with. (i.e. alternate the rear rim, and disc to not overheat either, use both together for late braking into turns on a screaming descent.)

Perhaps its just overkill.

We've got a Avid linear pull (with Travel Agent) on the front and a Winzip disc on the rear. If I had mounts for it I'd go with two linear pull brakes and skip the disc.

We live in St Louis so we just don't have any long descents. Our disc is OK but certainly nothing special and it seems to me like it takes a lot more maintenance than linear pulls.

Yes, I did experiment with a spring but cable return was not the problem.

While the compression spring does help with cable return and lever feel, the real purpose is to allow you to run the brake pads in tighter to the rotor by improving the performance of the reaction arm and taking up some of the slack in the cable run.


After smoking the 203mm rotor on a short hill it came off and I'm not wasting any more time with Avid.

You've got to go with what works well for you, so good that you've moved on.

I'm a little surprised that no one voted for 2 rims and a rear disc.

We had that configuration right after we replaced the Arai drum brake with the Avid disc. It lasted for about one week... the disc gave us ample "slowing down before turns" power.

I'm a little surprised that no one voted for 2 rims and a rear disc.

I still haven't voted.... but that's only because I'm conflicted.

Our Erickson road tandems both came fitted with front & rear rim brakes and a 90's vintage Hope mechanical disc as a supplemental (albeit, light duty) drag brake. This was an Erickson thing that he spec'd for certain clients who would likely find themselves on an Erickson tour in the Alps. We used this configuration about twice on the '98 Erickson and once on the '02 Erickson S&S before having the '02 Erickson converted to an Avid rear disc only configuration only.

The '02 Erickson rear disc configuration with front caliper was used for about 4 years under some pretty demanding conditions. It cemented my belief that they are a viable alternative for a narrow band of teams, e.g., light to low-mid weight who must regularly deal with demanding descents that don't warrant a drum brake.

Our '98 Erickson hasn't seen it's rear disc in 8 years and works just fine without it here in the Southeast. Our newest tandem is also set up to run ront & rear rim brakes or front rim brake with rear disc for special occasions. It can also be set up to run front and rear rim brakes + supplemental disc controlled by stoker via temporary controls and housing installation. In other words, it's a very flexible configuration as is our '98 Erickson.

just an anecdote from today's ride.

Group ride, dog runs out into the pack, from behind some bushes with zero warning. The guy in fornt of us staring down the dog slams on brakes. We hve nowhere to go, so also have to slam on brakes. Guy behind us runs up into our dropouts, does a nose wheely, and fortunately doesn't wreck.

Everyone was amazed how fast our tandem brakes. So 2 Dura Ace rim brakes give plentyof stopping power. My issue is still heat dissipation on really big decents.