socalrider

The Santana that we just bought had the XT V-brakes and some older Kool Stops that looked like they were going on 10+ years of use.. I bought some Serfas Pads and while they work fine, is there anything out there that will maximize the braking capability.

I would eventually like to get a tandem down the road with Disk brakes but just not in the budget right now.

As far as tires go - I am going to go with 700x28 tires and giving the Vittoria Rubino's a try since they are my go to road tire for years. I get the wire bead model since they have a little more firmness in them.

Anyone try the Conti Contacts or Conti Supersport Plus, sounds like these might be a good option for Tandem. Any good info would be greatly appreciated

Thanks. Erik & Barb

Carbonfiberboy 

V-brake pads: Swisstop GHP-2 are the best we've used.
Tires: Conti 4000 IIs in 28mm, also the best we've used.

jnbrown

+1 on Swiss Stop pads, use them on all my bikes.
Conti GP4000S are great tires, but I have switched to Schwalbe One because I feel the ride is smoother and durability about the same.

reburns

Same here on both points.

Regarding tires, nice thing about the 28 mm 4K2S is that their actual width is 32 mm. They are light, have a really nice ride, good tread wear and can usually be found for less than $40. However, they do seem to be prone to sidewall cuts. I'm having to decide whether to throw out or boot one with plenty of tread but that recently developed a 5 mm sidewall cut.

Conti now offers the 4season in a specified 32 mm width which I may try some day. My experience with 4season in 28mm is that the actual width was more like 26.

geoffs

We had an older Santana Sovereign that I had a disc mount welded on the rear chain stay and I bought a new disc brake fork. Much happier with the braking than with the v-brakes.
+1 for Swiss stop pads and Conti 4000

socalrider

Bought some holders and swiss stop pads, no more squeeling that will wake the neighbors. Much more tacky and stopping power has seen a huge improvement.

I have been told about welding a disc brake mount, what is the cost of this and who is capable of doing a good job on this..

mwandaw

I've had good results with KoolStop Salmons on our bike. Your KoolStops may just be old and hard.

+1 on the GP4000SII tires. We run 28s on our tandem, and I use 25s on my solo bike.

zonatandem

We use Koolstops and either Rubino or Maxxis ReFuse 25mm folding tires.

WPH

We use Clement LGG Strada in 28c. Light, fast, grippy and so far no flats. Touch wood. They look good on an older machine as well.