mkane77g

I find that our Dura Ace front caliper brake useless at speeds above 40. Could be pad material, don't know.

Carbonfiberboy 

Try the SwissStop blue pads:
BXP | SwissStop
also on Amazon.

mkane77g

Thank you and I will.

mtnbke

Santana is right about one thing, a rim brake on a bicycle is a disc brake.

Understanding Braking

If you have really good cantilever brakes on a bike like old Mafac tandem brakes, or some of what Paul makes, you can get enough rim pressure to actually crush a tandem rim if you really work at it.

Where people get hurt and potentially killed is when riding a tandem when things get really foggy and damp or wet, with rain things just become downright scary with rim brakes. There is a reason that an Arai drag brake has been the tandem standard since forever. People have had some very scary moments with shaved Arai drag brakes, so anyone thinking of shaving their Arai to get a cleaner look or to save 6 oz. either stay in the flatlands or avoid mountain passes when traveling.

We are a pretty heavy tandem team, and we don't ride our tandem, EVER, without the Arai on the rear wheel.

Short answer to your question, the strongest brakes are linear pull (V-brakes) or the old Mafac style tandem cantilevers. Rim just provides a larger rotor than any disc, however better they may brake dry, disc brakes are infinitely better in the rain, imo.

Anyone who thinks the disc brakes on their tandem are adequate, with no drag brake, will eventually find a environment or a long descent that will prove them wrong. That being said, long descents with rim brakes can be very dangerous as well with no drag brake. I know from experience. I once was descending off Colorado National Monument (tour of the Moon ride from the old Coors Classic, and as shown in movie American Flyers) on my single with road calipers. I didn't have trouble using the rim brakes, but it was scary as hell when I was bombing down the 2300ft descent as immediately when I went past the little ranger station thing where they take your entrance fee, I blew out my front tire. I'm pretty heavy, but it was spooky. If that had happened on one of the tight turns who knows what would have happened. Some of those drop offs are almost 1,000 feet straight down.

Arai Drag Brake. The life it saves might be your stokers!

https://www.tourofthemoon.com/course/
https://braveskimom.com/classic-rides...ur-of-the-moon

oldacura

Our old Co-Motion has V-brakes with Dia-Compe 287V brake pulls. We've ridden it a lot & down some steep descents and never really had a problem. We do have an Arai drum but haven't installed it in years. We're contemplating getting a new bike with caliper brakes. Am I going to be dissatisfied with caliper brakes compared to V-brakes?

mtnbke

It depends on the cantilevers. There are great cantilevers out there that are a take off of the old Mafac tandem cantilever. Good enough to crush wimpy rims.