Originally Posted by
dstke
During the tour I found that the rim brakes, along with a drum brake, simply aren't strong enough hold us back on steep descents (300# team but we love climbing). On one long steep descent in particular I had to grip and brake so hard for so long that I got a pinched nerve in my shoulder - this with two stops to let the rims cool and to warm ourselves up.
Aaaaaaargh!! Fricking marketing. Our 1992 Santana has been ridden +150,000 miles over many mountain passes fully loaded with camping gear, we are tall so overall heavy. The drag brake was always dependable, cantilevers dependable. We bought a new breakdown tandem to fly with. Disc (200 mm) is prone to over heating so we must stop during descents to let cool. If you are light or riding off road, discs are great, but otherwise discs, especially on a tandem, are no match for a drum brake and bad on steep descents. Fricking marketing.