Originally Posted by
Andrew R Stewart
Mechanical disks are generally far mushier feeling at the lever then well set up rim brakes are. Add in the tandem's aspects and it's no surprise that you end up nearly bottoming out the levers, at least the rear's.
Why the need to retain the BB7s? There are other mechanical disk calipers with very good reps for stiff feel and overall power. Andy
andrew has much more experience than I do, but my experience with mtb BB7s reflect this comment. My wife has had the same reaction as you, but Ive purposely set up her BB7's so they dont engage too early, as my fully loaded touring experience in very mountainous terrain has shown me that the braking power vs how they feel (compared to our lifetime with rim brakes) is totally adequate, even if our instincts say no.
now of course, we dont know what clearance you have, and to be honest, again from my experience getting used to disc brakes, the clearances are really really small for proper operation, and I have to put on my reading glasses to adjust stuff properly, and put something white on my garage floor to squint and see the clearance properly--ie, a smidge here and there makes all the diff, and Im always surprised by how small a smidge makes the diff.
so you do have to be very observant and adjust how detailed you are in doing stuff.
good luck, and get help from a good mechanic, I did and it helped a lot.