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Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Rochester, NY
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Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB
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A few thoughts more- Rim brake "power" goes down with the rim's diameter all else being the same. The 20" wheel size will always have less effective rim brakes compared to 26"+ wheels.
Tandems are already well known for their slow rate of slowing down. All that extra mass but the same friction footprint as a single bike has...
Hub mounted brakes get more effective as the wheel diameter becomes smaller.
As a hobby builder guy I would first consider a chainstay mounted caliper. The chain stays likely can handle the brake forces although I'd want to think about adding reinforcement pads to the caliper mount "feet". However the clearance between the top rear point of the caliper and the seat stay's underside can be tight and might drive the real choices. And that's assuming the stay clears a rotor to begin with.
I agree that an Arai drum brake would be the easiest path. You have the hub, the stay already has a cable stop on it's underside.
Lastly real stopping will come at the front end... Andy
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AndrewRStewart