Tandem brakes

[mudfly]

I recently converted my tandem from a ubrake to a Vbrake rear brake
( I brazed on the brake bosses) I'm having second thoughts on my brake choice of Avid SD 5's .They feel sloppy on the brake boss. and like cantilevers the pad wear is goiing to be uneven. I looked at another tandem that had the Avid Ultimates (CNCed with sealed bearing pivots) and now I see Avid also has the" Arch rivals" which work similar to the XTR brake. Anyone have experience with the Ultimate or the Arch Rivals?

BTW switching to disk is not an option at this point I would have to have new wheels built($500) and reset the rear dropout width


Thanks in advance
Rick

[Andy in Wi]

Don't put hydraulics out of the question. Used sets of hs-33 brakes can be had for about the same price you might spend on the avids. On top of that, Magura has always been fantastic about product support, and the mineral oil doesn't eat away at paint. The 33's are good stoppers (use a booster) with the hydraulic feel, and after a small fuss to set them up, they last. I've had mine for 3 years as the second owner, the first having them since, ummmm... 98. In that time, the only time the brakes needed work (other then the initial work done to lengthen the rear line) was when the MC piston blew a seal. Magura, at their own expense provided a new MC piston, and they haven't had any problems since. It's a very easy maintainance system
-WiBA

[mudfly]

Thanks for the advice Andy. I don't have any adversion to the H-33 other than weight (even us tandem weenies have to watch our weight) and the cost for new units. After doing further research this evening it seems the Arch Rival has been used quite a bit on Tandems with success.and a full set ( 2 wheels)with levers can be had for under 90 bucks.

Thanks again
Rick

[Mauriceman]

Them Magura's are the closest thing to disk brakes. Actually, they are disk brakes. 26" disk brakes.

[Dr.Spoke]

The Maguras everyone is talking about are the Bol***ks, love them; and they solve the long cable run issues with Tandems - hydraulic feel doesn't "go off" with longer lines.
Avid Arch Rivals and similar, always give a better feel than non-pivoted brakes. The problems are simple: 1. Long cable runs feel bad, better cables (Gore etc.) help - but are tsill prone to sloppy/sluggish feeling.
2. The extra weight of two riders/bigger bike will be noticed sooner on the parrallel push mechanism of your Avids (or Shimano), basically they'll wear out quicker!
Pays your money...takes your choice!
I'd find the money for the Maguras.

[mudfly]

The Magura's sound good but I'm going to pass on them.
I have narrowed it down to the Arch Rivals or the Avid Ultimates. I like the Ultimates because I can switch to a right side cable mount on the rear which will give me a straight cable run. The arch rivals are stock on a number of Tandems, but as Doc pointed out the pivots will be exposed to accelerated wear. We have been riding this tandem for 8 years with a Ubrake. It doesn't take much to make an improvement over a Ubrake.
Are there other V brakes that can be switched from Left to right cable mount?


Rick

Here is a pick of my conversion. I cut down the Ubrake mounts close to the seatstays and reattached the U-Brake stiffner. It was easier than filing off the tig welds and the stiffner is still functional