Hi R900. I totally agree with the comment on the rear brake. After lots of mucking about I managed to get acceptable performance from it so haven't changed it. What I did:

Diagnosis:
The problem is with cable routing not the brakes. The brakes are excellent on my friend's touring bike, so no reason why they shouldn't work properly here.

Things to fix:
Basically anything that moves when you pull the brake is eating up braking power. Thus it needs to be stopped.
1) Too much cable outer - cut the outers down as far as possible while getting a smooth run, particularly the one which wraps round the stoker seat tube. This is where 90% of the problem occurs - mine is now practically touching the top tube all the way round and doesn't flex while giving a reasonable straight cable path. Also ensure all the cable ends are perfectly at 90 degrees - use either a dremel or grinding wheel to do this.
2) The cable hanger coming off the stoker seat collar is a really crappy solution and IMO responsible for 80% of the problems. Reason is that it twists under tension, doesn't allow enough space for the cable to enter it without nasty curves and can be adjusted so that the cable exit is not in line with the brakes. A better part here would fix things. Let me know if you find one. To make the best of a bad job I first bent the hanger slightly so that the cable enters straighter. The fixing is now off centre but that doesn't matter as you can tune this out by adjusting the brake springs slightly. I then set the adjustment screw so that the cable exits in a straight line to the brakes.
Steps 1 and 2 are somewhat iterative. Also don't go overboard on bending the hanger as it will break if you bend it too much.
3) Set up the brakes as per Sheldon Brown's instructions on his web page. IIRC key is to set the pad as far away from the canti as possible by changing the order of the conical washers and spacer ring. This increases mechanical advantage of the canti / straddle wire.
4) Adjust brake springs to maximum tension to keep cable taut and ensure both brakes touch at the same time.
5) Ride in the rain - the road grit will bed in the pads and rims much more than many thousands of miles of sunny rides.
6) Final possible improvements:
a) Nokon cable at the rear
b) Kool stop salmon coloured pads
c) better hanger

I did also consider the drill out option, but didn't want to as I think the drop is too big for a standard caliper, so perhaps a drop-down mount which fits the frame tube is the answer. Too much hassle though. A disc is possible, but again not without its own hassles and costs.

Hope that helps.

Andrew

Pic from Wednesday's ride...
 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...s/P1010174.jpg

Taken on one of our favorite "quickie" routes, a 40mile up and down ride from our home in SW Portland, up and over the "hump" then a blast out Hwy 30 and over the brand new Sauvie Island bridge to the smooth, quiet and serene roads of Sauvie Island and then back into town and the long climb up Terwilliger Blvd and home. When we only have a couple hours to sneak in a ride this one is always our choice.

Photo taken on the new bridge with the old green bridge in the background.


KRhea and Debra

Here is Renee and me at the start of our recent 3-day jaunt down the Pacific Coast Highway, starting in Big Sur.


http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/pics/...61_1_.jpg?v=16

Long-time lurkers finally signed up.

We started tandeming 6 years ago, and the pictures tell the story. Soon after starting to ride, we got pregnant the first time (tandems do take your marriage where it was going faster...)

Our first Great Western Bike Rally, 4 months pregnant:
http://www.glausers.org/gwbr1.jpg

Miles' first 30 mile day:
http://www.glausers.org/miles30.jpg

This year brought #2 along. Here we just finished a 5-mile charity ride. 20 hours later the baby was born (planned c-section):
http://www.glausers.org/pics/baby/finishline.jpg

And here is her first ride:
http://www.glausers.org/pics/baby/helenride.jpg

We've outgrown our rig, a 5-year old on the bike seat and one in the trailer destroyed one rear wheel already!

ON EDIT: Here is the new rig, on the first test ride around the block
http://www.glausers.org/pics/train.jpg

Couple pics from a recent bike date

http://www.bikerubbish.com/rubbish/july2008/tandem.jpg

http://www.bikerubbish.com/rubbish/july2008/tandem3.jpg

This is my girlfriend and I on a trip around Antwerp and in the Antwerp train station. We're not really sure what kind of bike it is, nor when it was manufactured, but we know we love it. We found it on eBay for 89E, and had to drive all the way to Munich to get it. We love to take it on trips around Europe, it goes quite nicely in the car and train, and the 5-spd Sachs Torpedo hub helps us get up and down *slight* inclines so we're not limited to just coasting downhill.

http://www.eissq.com/images/laura_an...at_antwerp.jpg

http://www.eissq.com/images/bike_in_...in_station.jpg

The best feature? You can take out the center section and make a single person bike! Just like the Bike Friday XLQ, only 3 decades before it's time.

That being said, I've seen lighter motorcycles (no, not really, but it sure feels that way when you have to haul it up stairs), and heaven help us the day we need replacement parts. Until then, though, we're sure to enjoy it!

Here we are outside the B&B getting ready to head home after our 29th anniversary getaway.

Today I'm pulling the bike out of the van and something out of the corner of my eye just doesn't look right.

I work with some very imaginative people who often have a very clever and subtle sense of humor.

Apparently one of them applied some additional customization to our "Share the road" vanity plate.

That is so cool! I thought at first it was a picture of OUR plate, as it starts with a two as well, (2BIKE).

A compilation... the first 5 taken by tandemracer or his spouse and the last one by counselguy. If it weren't for tandem racer and others I'm fairly sure there would be very few photos of us to share.


Note: Deja Vu. Yes, some of these were posted earlier in the thread. However, server issues turned those photos into little X's so I pull those down and have consolidated them + a few others here.

Ours is 2CTER (two seater, get it?).

I just sent this message and pictures that everyone in the dept. will have first thing Mon. AM. Of course there was really no ticket, but one good prank deserves another;

"Hey guys,

Apparently, some part of Florida statute 320.0706(5) states that license plates must be displayed free from defacement, mutilation, grease, and other obscuring matter. (see attached).

I was stopped and given a ticket over the weekend because my license plate was somehow modified in a manner that the FHP officer deemed as defacement. My argument that it was done without my knowledge or permission fell on deaf ears as I already had reference to tandem riding on the plate itself as well as the license plate frame. The modification was actually pretty cute and I would have gotten a big ha-ha out of it myself if I knew about it and it wasn’t going to cost me a $180.00 fine. The FHP officer didn’t think it was very funny at all.

I’m sure this probably happened when I was parked at Publix or someplace and someone saw our plate and just happened to have a printer and our pictures, but on the outside chance that this might have happened at work, I’d appreciate it if someone would step up and let me know they were responsible.

Thanks,
Reg"

Here is a happy picture of the Mrs. and me finishing as the first tandem in a 95 mile race around a lake. I told my wife to put up her arms at the finish - the crowd will love it! Little did she know I was going to do it too! I beat her to it, and the newspaper photographer caught it perfectly.

We had many comments/questions about our bike during/after the race, and we were quite surprised it took nearly 40 miles for someone to say "She's not pedaling back there." My wife was going to squirt the offending biker with her water bottle...but it was a rather warm day and water was a valuable commodity that day.

D

Newest Team Pics
 

Here are this years pics with the two stokers, each pulling a 26 mile out and back- we heard "she's not pedaling," "He'll never know if you stop!" and my favorite "Wait, you can have two?!?"

Someday, somehow and some way.....I get my dearest to ride tandem with me, and then I'll post the happy pics.

You guys are SO LUCKY your wives ride with you.

not a couple, but we were happy on RAGBRAI this year.
J

Yay, we can finally post in this thread. From the Tour of Napa Valley this weekend -- we did the 30 mile course, the longest my honey's ridden. This was 2 miles from the end and she's still smiling...

http://explosive.net/albums/biking/napatour1.jpg

Cool cool pics!
Our first ride....Midwest MTB Fest...he just turned 4
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/smcr/DSC_4424.jpg
Me an' the best stoker ever on Monarch Crest last year (I swear, he's there, see his foot?)
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...9-7927_IMG.jpg
Ah, here he is....
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...trailnetjb.jpg
Near 2700 miles on it in a year and a half and he still loves to ride, especially if I don't forget the snacks!

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL160.../331350807.jpg

Sharon and I have been tandeming since 1990 . . . and our son (now 14) went from a Burley trailer behind the tandem to an AlleyCat tagalong behind the tandem to a single bike - plus time with me on the tandem . . . but . . . this was our first adventure on a triplet.

This was on the recent (Aug 08) Santana tour of the San Juan Islands. I think I yelled 'smile' but it doesn't look like my co-riders got the message before the shot was taken (photo taken by fellow forum member 72andsunny - thanks Mike). It was a great tour - a few challenging hills, beautiful scenery, and a fun group of fellow tandem'ers!

One from our honeymoon cycletour in Nova Scotia...

http://honeycycle.com/TandemBobGrass.jpg

that does it, seeing all these. . . i'm going to go rent one this week, and we're going for a ride . . . even if she doesn't pedal . . . :P

:thumb:

MS Ride 2008
 

MS 150 ride 2008- Deception Pass

Sunny days. Good people. Great cause.



Attachment 81139

WOW, some great pics!!!

My wife/kids and I tandem, I dont have pics but Ill get some together really soon.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...aTandem004.jpg
This is my son Ethan. We have been riding for only a year now and have enjoyed several trips. He is autistic and we have learned very quickly riding together. He is very trusting [even on one of our down hill 50 mph runs]. Our Kuwahara is our first and with a complete make over and some added [and removed] braze on items it seems to suit us fine for now. Our jerseys are from my favorite bike club in Tokyo Japan. When I was only 16 years old the owner [Hideo Nalshima] took me under his wing and helped me really enjoy cycling. It is funny that he never spoke English and I never spoke much Japanese but we had rides with the team that will last forever. My favorite was a ride to Mount Fuji and back to Tachikawa [my first 130 mile ride]. We still keep in touch even after 30 years. He is now 72 and still rides more that most of us.

Great post, this is awesome, I just don't see me ever being ale to talk the better half into one