dave80909

Top...I got that miyata ready to ship...been draging my ass, sorry.

I dion't know d**k about tandems so I thought I would give myself a
crash course with an old Columbia. I'm going to at least get some of the
rust off and get it complete and working again. (I hope anyway)

The main problem it seemed was the freehub spined both directions,
no catch at all to it...it just spun easily either direction ??

So off the wheel comes...I get it apart and pull the axle out, and it's really
bent...as soon as the axle came out the freehub acted like it should and
spun one way.....???...would a bent axle cause that??

Interesting brake drums...the shoe liner fell off, I have no idea what the heck
they are or if they make em anywhere anymore...the only marking was RX.
I guess that thing came stock...I'm not sure.

So looks like I'm at stopping point here..looks like I need a few parts to go further.
could use any help here, I am intriged by it....the rear wheel does not appear to have
any dish to it, so the rim is in the center of it all I guess...

Didn't look like there were many mech threads in the tandem forum so I posted here.

neilG

That's not a freehub, it's a freewheel. Removing the axle, bent or not probably had nothing to do with it working correctly: you must have just worked it back and forth enough times to loosen all the congealed grease or oil and get the pawls to snap into place.

I've worked on quite a number of those drum brakes. They really never worked that well. Make sure the shoes and drum are clean. If there is a brake bridge on either set of seat stays you could add a caliper there. There's always that welder you have there.......

Retro Grouch 

That's an Arai hub brake. QBP still has parts for it listed in their catalogue so they should be easily get-able. I'd agree that they aren't overly endowed with stopping power. Their most common use is as an additional drag brake on tandems for scrubbing off speed without heating up the rim.

dave80909

Freewheel..Your right , I like that idea to just put calipers on...that brake system is toast

dave80909

hmmm maybe i could use both...the wifes gained a few pounds

Sheldon Brown

I've got the beginnings of an article about tandems of this sort.

See: https://sheldonbrown.com/opctandem.html

Sheldon "Got One Rusting Under My Porch" Brown
+-----------------------------------------+
| The wind and waves are always on the |
| side of the ablest navigators. |
| --Edward Gibbon |
+-----------------------------------------+

dave80909

Now there are some ideas...thanks Sheldon.

The headset seems good on this one, and the cranks..hmm I don't know yet.

neilG

I've seen it done. The drum brake feels super mushy at the brake lever, especially over such a long run, so you could give the stoker the lever for the drum and run the caliper to the captain's bars.

dave80909

It worked ..I ditched the whole wheel and put a 27" on from a shwinn continental..
the drivetrains done...chains all in place

the canti brake off it worked too, so hopefully I have a working brake system...

It's may not be pretty but it's all there now. Just needs cables, and levers etc.

Thanks for the helpfull suggestions..

dave80909

Hi there...



OK I got it all together and rode it yesterday....WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
my first ride on a tandem ..

I conscripted my son to be my slave on the back and we mounted
the mighty steed...and about fell over initialy, but we got her going
like a powerful 50 lb. 747 rolling out of the driveway.

It was big, awkward and clunky, son says: "This is totaly freakin' weird"
WOW...It was fun, I got to ride a tandem and totaly embarrass my son
riding up and down the block all at once!!

Anyway it's a bit rough, but it works ok, it was a fun project.