Doggus

We have an ~'06 CoMotion Speedster (it was replaced under warranty a couple years later) that I want to convert to a wider tubeless tire. Not sure if this is even feasible. The front is rim brake so there is no moving to a 650b wheel to gain more clearance unless I somehow convert that to a disc brake setup. Tried calling CoMotion a few times. Line is always busy, dumps into a VM that is always full and hangs up. Long shot posting here to see if anyone has converted a speedster for a more gravely riding setup.

pipeliner

You could just buy a fork with a flat mount for a brake caliper. Get one rated for a tandem. You’ll probably end up buying a thru-axle fork, wheel, mech caliper (to work with your mech brifter) and a rotor.

Rick

Co-Motion will likely build a new fork. I would read this thread: (Brakes/Rotors for Tandem on Mountain Gravel Roads) The weak point of disk brakes is long steep grades. Tandems generate allot more heat than a single bike when braking. I have a Co-Motion Pangea Rohloff. I am heavy and had to go to an ebike rotor so my front disk brake wouldn't squall. I haven't ever used tubeless. I read about tubeless and decided to stick with what I have.

Doggus

I read the thread. Here in N. Texas we don't have those long downhills that will warp rotors.

I went tubeless on my main road bike two years ago. I will never go back to tubed tires. The ride quality is night and day, tubed tires absolutely suck now that I've ridden tubeless. Every now and then I have to put on a tubed tire, like a few weeks ago when I lost my shrader/presta adapter and wanted to get a ride in. Not only did the bike start jar'ing the crap out of me on the gravel washboard, but the damn thing flatted after two miles on the gravel. The feel of tubeless reminds me of my foray into tubular tires only without all the hassle of gluing tires to rims.

Rick

Here in California we have long hills and mountains. I don't have to worry about warping rotors on my Tandem because it has hydraulic rim brakes and a drum brake.

I ride my bikes mainly on the road and not the dirt. I am quite comfortable with tubes. Tubeless introduces some other problems that most people don't talk about. Can you run tubless without that liquid in the tire, like they do on cars.

vmizera

Did this to our 2003 Primera. Involved new fork and changing over to 650B/ISO 584 wheels.
Able to run 45mm wide tires now. Running Sturmey Archer XL drum brake in front, disc
in rear. Fork will fit v-brakes, but the drum works fine.

marcdanziger

Hydraulic rim brakes??

...tell us more, please?

Chilepines

My conversion went the other direction (26 in up to 650B) but most of the issues are the same. I got a new fork with disc mounts. It has IS and you'll want either IS or post-mount. Flat mount brakes only take up to 160 mm rotors. Assuming you'll also want 650B in the rear adding disc mounts to a non-disc frame is a bit tricky. I got a $6 adapter from Amazon, (Star-Art 20/31.8mm Adjustable MTB Bike Disc Brake Bracket), made some mods to it to get to fit my frame, and it works. Some people have suggested you need thru axles with discs, but not really. Neither front or rear on this tandem are thru axle, but getting a 15 mm thru for the fork makes sense. CoLab Cross fork will do all that you are asking for.

Philly Tandem

They've been around for a long time. Look up Magura brakes: https://www.magura.com/en/components/bike/rim-brakes/

They seem to be more popular in Europe than in the USA for some reason...