Jeremyd123

I've picked up a Pashley Classic No.33 cargo trike and am turning it into a coffee trike. Once I've got an extra 120kg + my weight on there I'm aware I'm going to need a pretty good braking system. It currently has 2 v brakes on the front and a rear hub brake on the back. What would you recommend doing to the bike to make the braking system better? All feedback would be so appreciated as I'm a little lost!

FBinNY 

Odds are you are OK as is.

Given the intended purpose, its not likely to be ridden at high speeds. Also, absent long descents, there's no issues of excess brake heat.

Keep in mind that you already have as much or more braking than most tandems, which have comparable gross weight.

Iride01 

People always feel their bicycle brakes aren't good enough. However even on vintage heavy bikes with chromed steel rims in the rain I was able to stop in time to avoid the dangers occasionally presented. And I wasn't riding slow either.

If this is a older model with older components, you might just update them to newer components. And some brands of brake pad are claimed to stop better than others. However I do agree with your first respondent that you won't be riding this at high speeds.

HillRider

You didn't say where you are located. San Francisco will make more demands on brakes than Kansas City. Even so, you are unlikely to need to stop from high speed or after riding down a long steep grade. As noted, Tandems are just as heavy and have fewer brakes.

freeranger

A good set of pads on any rim brake will help. My favorite, and many others from what I've read, is Kool Stop Salmon pads. They do wear a little quicker than some of their other offerings, but the stopping power is there, and I've not found them to wear out so quickly as to be a problem. Sorry, not familiar with the mechanics of hub brakes.

Andrew R Stewart 

CLASSIC No.33 - Pashley In case readers don't know what one of these looks like.

After replacing the old and OEM rim brake pads and making sure the cabling is in good shape there's not much more that can improve the stopping ability of the front brakes. Not without some serious frame and wheel mods. Going to disk brakes would do a lot but given the single sided frame/hub design you won't likely find off the shelf parts. Custom hub machining, wheel rebuilds, welding/brazing on frame mounts...

The rear wheel's brake will do a lot less of the work so the less able coaster brake might be good enough. But Francis makes a good point about hills, with no location info we can only hope you don't have big hills you ride on. There was a recent thread here about IGH hub brakes. One point I made was not having a coaster brake allows free back pedaling, a feature I really like. I can't see enough detail in the Pashley photos (and note the lack of actual specs) to know if the hub brake is a coaster where the brake shares the hub shell's insides with the drive clutch. If it does expect the hub/brake to get pretty hot on any significant hill as you "control" the trike's pace. (Look up "Repack Hill"). So if you do have hills you might consider a roller or drum brake hub. Most all of these also give you more than a single gear ratio, which will make the going up those hills easier too. These types of hubs have the brake mech outside of the gearing in the shell. Makes for far cooler hub and its lube. Andy

FBinNY 

Keep in mind that your brakes are not going to be an issue because the real limit to stopping power is the geometry and weight distribution.

Any serious front wheel braking when loaded will carry high risk of tipping. Not to mention that unbalanced front wheel braking will create steering problems.

Essentially, stopping distances will be comparable to rear wheel braking alone, so keep that in mind as you ride.

Crankycrank

Pashley sells a bunch of these designed for just the type of heavy setup you're planning. I would guess the brakes they supply would be up to the task or there would be lawsuits all over the place. Have you tried riding it carrying the equivalent weight yet? Classic No. 33 | Ice Cream, Coffee & Other Vending Tricycle | Pashley | Ice-cream Bik

79pmooney

As others have said, tell us where you will be riding. What kind of hills? This will change what you need from what you've got is just fine to you need the best there is and might have to modify your tricycle to get there. I've walked hills in San Francisco with stop signs at the bottom that will challenge any brake system and rider. Lived in flat towns where nearly any brake worked.

Gravity and physics are cruel masters. Needing to fight speed over long descents adds in heat build-up and may have to be dealt with. (Now I'm guessing that with a 250 kg setup (plus you) you won't be climbing mountains and therefor not descending them but I do not know that.

hokiefyd 

I don't want to get into the pedantics in this thread, but the pictures I'm seeing of this machine suggest that it doesn't have V-brakes on the front (or even linear pull brakes!) -- it looks like they're old school single pivot side-pull brake calipers. I can't find any high-res images, but they look like the low-cost type of brake calipers, with flexible arms, etc. In other words, they may indeed not be very effective. Better pads will probably make a nice improvement here, but there is likely a limit to the performance you'll get out of those. I say that not to be pedantic, but because I was going to suggest getting a pair of linear pull brakes with the longest arms you can find (longer brake arms increase leverage with the linear pull/V-brake design), but it doesn't look like that's relevant in your case. And reach isn't really adjustable here because the mounting point and rim diameter are both fixed constants. A higher quality side-pull brake (if the factory ones are indeed poor), one that might not flex as much, might offer some improvement.

To ​​​FBinNY 's point, perhaps this is by intention...perhaps Pashley felt like most of the braking burden would (or should) be carried by the rear hub brake and too much brake on the front with an articulating bike like this would cause handling problems. I must admit that I've not ridden that type of bike, so I don't know how such a bike handles and feels during front wheel braking from a moderate speed.

squirtdad

if it is the bike in the link it looks like it was designed for vending. but I think OP needs to think this thing is also designed for as noted in the description "leisurely" speeds.

practically one would not want to ride 20 miles to the vending site and back and hills are to be avoided

but no mentioned yet: what type of coffee espresso, pour over, etc

I would like a medium roast pour over and side double espresso please

Iride01 

OP never said what the year was of their trike. Pashley has been making these for quite a while and have updated components periodically. Currently the spec's say the new model comes with dual pivot brakes. And those are usually better braking force than single pivots that may or may not be on the bike since the OP never said.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/29...g?v=1660934290

https://www.pashley.co.uk/products/classic-no-33

Ironfish653

Is this a new bike or used?
If it's new, or new-ish, you're probably ok to go. Kool-Stop Salmon pads are always a good choice, though.

If it's used,; definitely give some attention to the cables, since they're probably full -length housing, and a little corrosion can have a big effect on braking performance.
Like Hokiefyd said, the brakes look like plain old side-pulls; if they don't look up to it, a Vintage BMX Caliper like a DiaCompe MX-1000 should give you some more grab, without having to bodge up adapters or mounts for another style of brakes.

Maybe a long -range dual -pivot like a Tektro R559, if it'll fit around the tires. Hard to tell just from the pictures

My guess is, along with the common consensus, that given the weight and the gearing, you probably won't be attaining much ground speed.

dedhed

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...y-no-33-a.html

WGB 

Specifically, per the company website link posted by @Andrew R Stewart see point 4 (italics are mine):

​​​​​​4. Effective braking with a dependable hub and caliper brake combination and rear parking brake: this system uses easily adjustable side-pull front caliper brakes and a fully enclosed rod-operated rear hub brake, which act together to give dependable, all-weather stopping power. The rear hub also incorporates a parking brake which can be activated to keep the tricycle stationary when parked so you don’t need to worry about it rolling away.

Since the company advertises the bike as capable of 200 kilos I think you will probably be safe.

Again though, questions arise.

Is your specific bike currently in good working order?
Is it an older model, newer model?
Are the current pads new or do they need replacement?

I'd suggest a partially loaded test ride, start somewhere with a slight downgrade and work up to heavier loads and steeper inclines......

FBinNY 

Here's a crazy idea.

Why don't you take 100#s of whatever's handy, load up the box and take it out to see how it handles rather than worrying about something that may not be an issue after all.

As a suggestion, 12 gallons of water is just shy of 100#s.

alcjphil

That is what I would do as well

Rolla

Maybe try a coffee brake?

Andrew R Stewart 

Francis, like a few others here, is old enough to have been taught/learn how to discover answers by actually trying I am continually impressed (satire) by the method of problem solving that requires a social reach out when the answers are only a trial or two away. Andy

FBinNY 

It's no accident that I quote Admiral Hopper in my signature.

Sometimes I wonder what she would of thought of people so willingly relying on the opinions of strangers of unknown expertise, working with incomplete or inaccurate information.

Ironfish653

I applied my confirmation bias here; in my mind, the OP said: "I just got this bike and the brakes seem like they're not going to be up to the task. I don't know much about it, but I know they need to be better. Any suggestions?"

Probably colored by the shakedown ride I just did on my recently - acquired Black Lightning (with single -pivot calipers and pads of unknown origin). "
"Speed Modulators" in the classic racing style

sweeks

That's what the "grain of salt" is for in my reference frame.