Improving upon single pivot side pull caliper...
 

I have a early 70's schwinn tandem with steel rims and a rear coaster brake and front single pivot caliper. I would like to upgrade the front brake because it leaves a lot to be desired. I have done some searching and the Shimano A-550 seems like the answer. The A-550 is a traditional nut style mount long reach dual pivot caliper, perfect, if only it hadn't been DISCONTINUED!... anyone have any suggests??

oh and yes I've tried Salmon Koolstops, and I am trying to avoid drilling the fork, but would consider it if I was positive I could get a recessed caliper that would accomedate the fenders and wide tires I have.

I'd try and get a new front wheel. Nothing will brake all that well with a steel rim. You can buy a generic front wheel with a decent allow rim for a song.

Good grief, a TANDEM with a steel rim and caliper in front and a rear coaster brake! Yes, for sure, replace the front wheel for one with an Al rim and then fit a better dual pivot front brake. Your stoker will thank you.

If you really don't want to drill the fork, you could put a Weinmann or Dia Compe front centerpull on it, it will be nutted. They're available with different reach, just make sure you get one that fits what you need. You can find them sometimes NOS on ebay, or if not NOS it shoudn't be hard to find one in good shape. With the salmon Koolstops they're very good brakes. Oh, and I agree completely that an aluminum rim will change things dramatically for the better in regard to braking-

how about replaing the fork with one that has posts for cantilevers or v brakes? a coaster on the rear of a TANDEM is A JOKE. adding the single pivot sidepull brakes up front on a steel rim only adds to the punch line. get a new front fork with the canti mounts and get a good set of cantis or v pulls to go up there as well as a aluminum front wheel. as soon as that steel rim gets wet with rain and you try to brake, your coaster brake will become the good brake.

of course if you didn't want a new front fork, the only other choice is going with a drum brake wheel up front.

tandem bikes carry a severe load that REQUIRES the best brakes you can put on there. hmmm, maybe a igh nexus with a drum brake in the rear would be a good future investment. good brakes and gears to boot.

Personally, if I was to replace the fork and the wheel on that bike , I'd go with disc-brakes.

I've got a slightly OT question. I see many who don't want to hassle with drilling out for the recessed mounts. Would it be possible to get a longer bolt (to go through the fork without needing to be drilled out for recessing the head of the bolt) or a piece of threaded rod with a nut (that could be threaded into the caliper and nutted on the other end)? Seems like it would be an easy alternative but never see it discussed.

Yeah, you can get longer centrebolts for the brakes. But that's specific to each brake and not all of them have an optional longer centrebolt. Drilling out the fork takes all of 30-seconds, what's the big deal?

personally i wouldn't grab my drill in hand and look at my bike with the hopes of improving its braking performance. new front forks with canti mounts are not that cheap and all the front fork of especially a tandem needs is more holes drilled in it. given it will probably work, but these are your brakes we are talking about. good canti's or v's with your current rims (aluminum would be best) will be fine for non wet riding. go for the alum rims, and if you want to go all out with a new hub and uber performance, i agree with dannoxyz... go disc!

Disks may be a little overkill on this bike. It's just a guess, but given that it came with a coaster brake, it's likely a lower end cruiser tandem. An aluminium rim would help braking a fair bit, all the more so with the koolstop pads. A new fork and brakes would be a relatively major investment, and a disk setup all the more so.

No big deal, just curious that I've never heard anyone suggest this in the many times this has come up and wondered why.

Not adding anything new, but I want to reinforce the claims above that the steel rims are a large part of the issue. Even when dry, and set up perfectly, and have great pads (say, salmon Koolstops), they still will never brake all that well. On a tank like a Schwinn Tandem, they really are going to be a problem.

jim

I also strongly recommend replacing the front wheel with an aluminum-rimmed wheel. This will brake worlds better than a steel-rimmed wheel.
Of course, finding one with enough spokes may be an issue. But I think for a well-built front wheel, standard 36 spokes (for a 27" rim, which I assume this bike has) will be fine. Just make sure to go over it and even out the tension as well as possible - or have a mechanic do this if you don't know how.

On brakes, I'd say just use an old centerpull brake, that will work with the present fork, and use new/good pads.
I have some old Dia-Compe centerpull brakes that I've overhauled, if yuou want to retrofit the bike. Just PM me.

It's probably so simple, no one ever mentions it. Sheldon wrote up a little procedure here: http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ra-e.html#recessed

Personally I've had problems with his method #3 on using a rear caliper on the front fork. It results in a bent centrebolt after many years of usage since the braking-action is pulling the caliper forward and upwards. Not that big a deal really. I prefer #2 with a long allen nut.

If you've got a front caliper for recessed allen nut, just drill the back hole in the fork and that's it. :)

Should have known Sheldon would have it covered. Have no plans to do any of it but just curious. Thanks.