best way to handle all three brakes?
#26
Tire sheer force and rear wear
You state that rear tire wear is a result of "100% of drive (pedaling) forces"
That drive force at the tire contact patch is actually pretty minimal. Maybe 10-20-50 lbs of force from pedaling results in wheel rotation. The sheer force between the tire and road is minimal.
On the other hand, the weight of the riders and tandem bike between the tires and road is roughtly 100 lbs in front and 300 lbs in the rear. It's the unrelenting and constant tire squish that creates the sheer forces that wears on the rear tire so much.
#27
That is a most unfortunate setup. Your team is definitely not having a quality experience. Applying the drag brake with every application of the front brake flies in the face of every accepted rule, law or convention governing the operation of tandem bicycles. I'm all for independent thinking but some things are just ... wrong.