Tandem brakes are a vital component of the tandem bicycle. The tandem bicycle is notoriously sluggish when stopping when equipped with non-specific tandem brakes. Brakes are not an area where you want to save weight, and use single road bike calipers. Tandems can easily reach speeds of over 60 mph and to equip them with brakes rated for half the weight is just unsafe. Pack riding with sluggish brakes can be a danger to the people you are riding with, as your stopping distance is almost double that of a single bike.
There are many considerations when selecting a braking system for your tandem. Some beloved stokers are not as excited about achieving Vmax on every hill as the captains are. That's one of the reasons that there are drag brakes, or hub brake systems available. There is also the issue of rim brake induced heat and tire failure on long descents. Another consideration is selecting a light carbon tandem fork and only having a front mount for a single road caliper brake. There is also the mechanical advantage compatibility of using STI brake levers with "V" brakes. Some tandem users like to include a mechanical advantage device such as QBP's "travel agent" in the system to reduce the hand force required to close the "V" brake.
Hydraulic braking systems work just great on a tandem for two reasons, superior braking power, and there is no cable friction or cable stretch when running from the front lever to the rear brake. Typically a length of about 3 meters (10 feet). We have used the Magura rim brakes since 1996 with great success. Another thing to consider when thinking about outfitting your tandem with a hydraulic disk brakes is the fact that the levers, (which contain a master cylinder) only come in mountain bike lever versions. There are no hydraulic disk brake levers in a road version brake lever. We typically install the rear disk brake lever on the stokers handle bar after boring out the clamp to fit a road handle bar diameter (26 mm)and then its used as a drag brake and/or a supplemental brake. It takes a coordinated effort on both the captain and the stokers part to operate the supplemental disk brake, but when all the brakes are applied the tandem can easily stop like a single bike.
CAS would like to help you in your tandem braking system selection. Below are a few braking systems, which are available for tandems:
