# What's your brake setup?



## Schmucker (Aug 23, 2007)

I'm curious as to what everyone is running for their brakes.

I recently purchased the Brodie Jojo from the classifieds here and it has BB5's w/203 f/r and a v-brake on the rear. The front and v-brake are controlled by the captain and then the rear disc is controlled with a stoker brake. Should I scrap the v-brake and run both discs to the front? I would think that'd be enough power. I don't trust the stoker to do anything. The v-brake doesn't look like it can be easily routed as the stoker brake.

What's working for everyone else?


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## TandemNut (Mar 12, 2004)

I would run 203mm BB7's on front and rear and toss the V brake. As for stoker having a brake, I've seen it a couple of times, but it seems like an accident waiting to happen to me. Too much (or little) brake in the wrong place can make for a bad outcome.


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## Okayfine (Sep 7, 2010)

Hope Mono 6Ti with 203mm rotors front and rear. No issues, work very well with a 360lb team in SoCal hills.

Concur with Alex regarding your setup. You're not going to see any real benefit from the v-brake if you already have good cable brakes and 203mm rotors.


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## clj2289 (Jan 2, 2010)

Magura Louise 203mm rotors. They are really great brakes for the $. We upgraded from the BB7's b/c they were too much effort on my hands down the mountains. BB7's had the same amount of braking power as the magura's, but the hydraulics are so much better IMO.


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## akexpress (Dec 19, 2010)

We have Hope Ti's w203s front and rear , could stop a truck with very little effort. 340#team with good hills here in Alaska. Love our EDCM. Have a bb7 w/203 on rear of Calfee road tandem and it also has good stopping power after an upgrade to compression less housing (jag wire ripcord). I think two bb7 would be fine on a mtn tandem


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## PMK (Oct 12, 2004)

Avid BB7's on our Co-Motion, 203 front and rear, BB7's on our ECDM, BB7's on our Fandango, all with 203 mm discs.

The ECDM came with Maguras, but I was unable to keep them on account of not being able to purchase the required adapter for our Fox 40 fork.

Stopping power compared to Maguras, they seem similar. 

The brake disc type does make a difference with the Avid. The smooth disc with holes gives better pad life, the slotted disc stops better.

As CLJ mentioned, some folks mention the required hand effort. It does not bother me and we have enough brake to most times lock the front wheel if needed. Locking the rear is easy. Not saying there is no control, actually a lot of feel , but powerful.

PK


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## clj2289 (Jan 2, 2010)

Disregard what PMK says about brakes. He wouldn't know. He doesn't use them.  


PMK said:


> As CLJ mentioned, some folks mention the required hand effort. It does not bother me and we have enough brake to most times lock the front wheel if needed. Locking the rear is easy. Not saying there is no control, actually a lot of feel , but powerful.
> 
> PK


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## PMK (Oct 12, 2004)

clj2289 said:


> Disregard what PMK says about brakes. He wouldn't know. He doesn't use them.


That was mean and not nice...I might cry now:eekster:

PK


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## Teamburney (Nov 21, 2010)

We have Shimano Saints on our ECDM and love them, plenty of stopping power for our 340 lb. team


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## itsdoable (Jan 6, 2004)

Front: Avid BB7 Mech, 203mm Hayes rotor
Rear: Avid BB7 Mech or Hayes HMX-1 Mech, 203mm Avid rotor.


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## phill77 (Aug 31, 2008)

We had Avid BB5 with 203mm rotors on our last bike, and now have Magura Louise with 203mm rotors front and rear on our ECDM.

I couldn't honestly say the Maguras are any better in performance (have always been able to lock either wheel on both bikes), and I seem to have more trouble getting the wheels back in place with them. I think the brake lever must get knocked in transit so the pads come in a bit.


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## Team Fubar Rider (Sep 3, 2003)

We're running our tandem with a "mullet" set-up. Avid BB7 in the front and a XTR V-Brake in the rear, since our tandem doesn't have disc tabs in the back. 

Doesn't really seem to matter though, much like your car, the front brake is doing the majority of the work anyhow. I've never understood the whole 2 brake on the rear of a tandem. I suppose I can understand a drag/drum brake that can be actuated by the stoker for long road descents, but I also remember older off-road tandems that had a canti up top and a U-Brake under the chainstays actuated by one lever with a "splitter" on the lever.


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## PMK (Oct 12, 2004)

Team Fubar Rider said:


> We're running our tandem with a "mullet" set-up. Avid BB7 in the front and a XTR V-Brake in the rear, since our tandem doesn't have disc tabs in the back.
> 
> Doesn't really seem to matter though, much like your car, the front brake is doing the majority of the work anyhow. I've never understood the whole 2 brake on the rear of a tandem. I suppose I can understand a drag/drum brake that can be actuated by the stoker for long road descents, but I also remember older off-road tandems that had a canti up top and a U-Brake under the chainstays actuated by one lever with a "splitter" on the lever.


It's a rainy day setup???

Yes a bunch of road tandems do run drag brakes, seems now though that with a 203mm rear disc the drag brakes are going away.

PK


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## phill77 (Aug 31, 2008)

PMK said:


> It's a rainy day setup???
> 
> Yes a bunch of road tandems do run drag brakes, seems now though that with a 203mm rear disc the drag brakes are going away.
> 
> PK


My supplier specced my frame with canti bosses as well as disc mounts, in case I wanted to add a rim brake as a drag. They are more tourer orientated, so I guess it makes sense if you are carrying much luggage.

On the demo bike we borrowed, they had set up a v-brake operated by a thumb shifter, which also meant it was easy to use as a parking brake if the bike was leant against a wall on a slope. Actually far more useful than I would have thought!


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## TandemNut (Mar 12, 2004)

Running a rim brake as a drag brake seems lika a recipe for disaster. 
If discs are properly sized and spec'd, I don't think a drag brake is necessary. 

(that oughta bring out the old skool guys in droves///)


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## Schmucker (Aug 23, 2007)

I just think it's goofy to have braze ones to run the disc as a stoker brake and the v-brake as the rear brake. I'll route down the top tube and down the seat stay with a zip tie to get decent routing. The v-brake is one I have never seen before. It has no noodle. The cable comes straight in and there is a rod between the two arms. As the cable is pulled it kinks at two pivots and pulls the other side. I don't seen any brand markings on it to figure out anything about it.


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## Team Fubar Rider (Sep 3, 2003)

So, not to hijack this thread, but my son and I did the Tinton Trail Time Trial (TTTT) Super D race today on the tandem. Only tandem at the race, which has some tight singletrack switchbacks. Ran the 7 mile course in 28:11. Fastest expert man was 20:30, so not terrible for a long bike on a tight course with a 9 y.o. stoking!

To keep the thread on track, our brakes worked wonderfully for a misty, slightly muddy day.


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## PMK (Oct 12, 2004)

Schmucker said:


> I just think it's goofy to have braze ones to run the disc as a stoker brake and the v-brake as the rear brake. I'll route down the top tube and down the seat stay with a zip tie to get decent routing. The v-brake is one I have never seen before. It has no noodle. The cable comes straight in and there is a rod between the two arms. As the cable is pulled it kinks at two pivots and pulls the other side. I don't seen any brand markings on it to figure out anything about it.


I assume that was the Brodie listed here. It is a treasure chest of vintage parts. I think those were Crosstop brakes.

That is a true vintage bike, on caliber possibly with an Ibis or one of the other less common 90's tandems.

Suffice to say you got a 57 Chevy or Hemi Cuda. Not modern but very cool and desirable in the right circles.

I wanted it as a cruiser tandem but was halted by my stoker.

PK


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## twd953 (Aug 21, 2008)

TandemNut said:


> Running a rim brake as a drag brake seems lika a recipe for disaster.
> If discs are properly sized and spec'd, I don't think a drag brake is necessary.
> 
> (that oughta bring out the old skool guys in droves///)


We've been tandeming for 13 years, but I don't know if that counts as "old skool".

You couldn't pay me to run a rim brake as a drag brake. Drag braking generates tremendous amounts of heat. If you like blowing your tubes at high speed, then it's a great idea. I wouldn't run a disc as a drag brake either for the same reason, unless it's something designed for the task like the Winzip w/10" rotor.

I run an arai drum brake on our road tandem run to a bar end shifter on the right hand drop. It is very handy in certain situations. Great as a parking brake (the one thing I really miss on our Fandango), and I do use it on long steep descents where I want to maintain a constant speed. The drag brake is nice becuase you can just set it lightly to keep speed in check without the hand fatigue of holding a lever for a long time. Drag braking isn't really as applicable for off road riding where you generally don't have 10 mile uniform downhill grades.

Now, you have to realize that when I'm using the drag brake, it's usually when I'm hauling the "train". The "train" is when I've got one child on the stoker position, a second on the trailer bike, and a third in the trailer behind that. We've hit some pretty steep/long downhills with that setup both on paved roads and gravel fire roads.

I'm sure we could get by with discs/203mm rotors, and I've thought of having a rear disc tab brazed on to our road tandem, but for now the v-brakes w/arai drum is fine.

No desire for a drag brake on our off-road tandem.


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## aka1972 (Sep 22, 2005)

We are running Magura Gustav M.
210mm Disc at the front, 190mm Disc in the rear.
Those are superb brakes. Out team weight incl. tandem is around 180kg. 
Rock solid brake power, even during 2000m descents in the alps.
It's sad that Magura decided to discountinue the Gustav.


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## Spikes (Jul 1, 2004)

On the Ibis Touché: Paul touring cantis rear and neo-retros front with Veloce levers
On the Fat Chance: Campy Euclids on the rear wheel (2x) and Campy Centaur cantis in front. All operated by three Centaur MTB brake levers.


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## PMK (Oct 12, 2004)

Spikes said:


> On the Ibis Touché: Paul touring cantis rear and neo-retros front with Veloce levers
> On the Fat Chance: Campy Euclids on the rear wheel (2x) and Campy Centaur cantis in front. All operated by three Centaur MTB brake levers.


To derail this topic a second, with your resume" of tandems, I am surprised you did not buy that 90's Brodie with a load of vintage stuff that was listed here recently. I think it went very cheap as in inexpensive. You might find the buyer and trade him up to something more modern and easier to get parts for, that is assuming you are in to vintage tandems.

Nice FAT BTW.

PK


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## ds2199 (Sep 16, 2008)

*Magura Louise*

Magura Louise (after 2007 model) with 203 rotors - BIG FAN!

I have run these on our ECDM 26" and on our Fandango 29er. Many, many miles on these brakes including several single day races with vertical/descent in excess of 12k ft.

The performance pads DO NOT last very long. I usually use the endurance pads, as they last longer. I will also add that the two piece rotor stands up to the heat and does not warp like the all steel rotors - worth the extra $$.


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## CaptainHaddock (Mar 3, 2012)

We're running the Avid BB7's with 203mm disks front and back. I'm curious to see how they hold up to the mud & rain here in Portland. I'd appreciate any suggestions that you all may have regarding setup and break-in as they are a new system to me.


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## mikefoxer (Mar 3, 2012)

*my bike*

hey guys im back to the bike scene after being out for about 8 years, I just purchased a bike and wanted to know some info on it. If someone could inbox me and i will tell you all the stuff on it. I dont know what is good and what is not but this thing looks awesome. All I know is it is a santacruze


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## Rmabus (Jun 12, 2012)

I have converted a Burley zydeco tamdem that I am converting to our family trail beater tandem. I am really want to be extremely careful about spending stupid money on this thing as it is starting out with its limits. Right now my team weight is 250 and we are running v brakes. I was thinking about old school posted mounted magura rim brakes. Anyone use them on a tandem and recommend or strongly dissagree with running these?


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## PMK (Oct 12, 2004)

Rmabus said:


> I have converted a Burley zydeco tamdem that I am converting to our family trail beater tandem. I am really want to be extremely careful about spending stupid money on this thing as it is starting out with its limits. Right now my team weight is 250 and we are running v brakes. I was thinking about old school posted mounted magura rim brakes. Anyone use them on a tandem and recommend or strongly dissagree with running these?


Magura series work well as rim brakes on a tandem. We had the HS22 Tomac series on our 98 Cannondale.

Get the high grip brake blocks. It takes a while to set them up correctly. Ensure they are bled correctly. I would also say it is a must to run a brake booster.

While not as strong as a good 203 mm disc, these will stop good when dry. Wet stopping is typical rim brakes and does not stop as well as dry brakes.

PK


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## Rmabus (Jun 12, 2012)

Thanks for the tips. In a perfect world I would be able to find a low travel fork to eat up only the big stuff, and run a disk up front with the magura out back but that involves a new front hub so I am probably going to just hang with the hunt for some old magura's.


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## banks (Feb 2, 2004)

I use Avid Arch Rivals W/Koolstop Salmon pads with Salsa boosters with Avid Speed Dial 7 levers; no problems in 10+ years! I would love to find the difference against my cable setup to Magura HS33 rim brakes.


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