mandovoodoo

Probably somewhere in past threads, but I couldn't find it. I have an older Santana Vista with cantilevers and one of those black drum brakes. My wife and daughter rode it. I rode it for the first real ride today with my daughter. Fairly long drop (maybe 5 miles) with no-brakes runout probably hitting 50+ if I didn't brake. I used the brakes lots to keep our speed down. I wasn't convinced we actually had the stopping power to stop the bike in a reasonable distance, or perhaps at all. I could scrub speed, but it took lots of hand power and too much of the drag was from the drum brake, so I'm wondering how to get more power.

I'm sure this isn't a new thing. The bike has normal cantilevers with stock pads that aren't terribly well broken in. Maybe they just take breaking in. Or maybe I need some of the bewildering variety of koolstop pads. The mountain tandem has finned Matthauser pads (remember those!??) and stops fine. Or maybe the combination of cantilever and drum simply has limits I don't like.

Advice on a fix for this? I really want awesome braking power and heat dissipation capability. I like climbing and could well be doing 15 mile downhills eventually. I don't mind stopping and letting things cool, but I do like to be able to stop!!!

dfcas

A drum brake sheds heat the best of any options you have for the rear.

In my experience, V-brakes have more stopping power and are far superior to cantis. Yes, you can get new pads and tune the cantis etc, but V brakes bite better. If you have road brake levers, you will need a cable pull adaptor for V brakes.

As far as heat dissipation, I think all rim brakes will be about the same.

Deep V rims are probably better than box rims, due to the increased surface area.

mandovoodoo

I'll try some koolstop soft dual compound.

If that doesn't work, I have some V brakes and could switch levers. Have the stoker use the drum!

TandemGeek

As a follow-up to our PMs last evening, if you haven't done so already you might want to stop by Cycology Cycles just up the road in Marysville, TN. They are very tandem-savvy and the store manager, Tim, is very familiar with cantilever brakes from many years hammering around with his wife and daughter on an older Cannondale road tandem and a multitude of other bikes.

Again, having fresh brake pads will usually make a big difference in stopping power vs. even ones that are a few years old -- used or not -- and while not knowing exactly what type of cantilever brakes you're using, certain older models and some of the newer boutique models can be 'tuned' via the way the straddle cables are set-up.

You definitely have some wonderful roads up there that demand good brakes so by all means don't rest until you're satisfied with the performance.

MB1

If that "Black Drum Brake" is an Arai (it most likely is) you could open the thing up and see if the brake pads have any shiny/glassy surfaces. If so your braking performance will increase a lot if you lightly sand the glassy stuff off and perhaps if you spray some automotive or motorcycle brake cleaner on the outer braking surface.

Don't breathe any of that junk BTW.

uspspro

I have been VERY impressed with the power and feel of my Shimano BR550 Cantis with Swiss Stop Green pads.

mandovoodoo

Thanks all. I'll pull the drum apart, deglaze, and my wife picked up some pads today. Will see how they do. The folks at Cycology seem too busy to bother.