jawnn
Member
- Local time
- 1:45 PM
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
- Messages
- 118
I have been engineering a big tadpole trike that will be about 5-600 lbs fully loaded.
We have decided that the brakes are the most important part, even at only 20 mph maximum (probably faster down our steep hills).
I asked a the Hostel Shoppe for info they said "Drum brakes modulate better and give you more control over stopping than disc brakes".I had read some where that drum brakes for tandems are not for stopping, only for "drag" going down a mountain.
Maybe both would be best. Some one told me I had to use two motorcycle drum brake wheels to stop this much weight. I have two disc brakes on my delta trike and they don't always stop perfectly. And they are never perfectly balanced.
I think that only hydraulic disc brakes can be synchronized perfectly, but a double lever is not available.
Then people tell me that a tadpole trike can spin out of control if the wheelbase is too short or there is not enough weight on the rear wheel if the trike is long enough.
So it would really be nice if every one would test their brakes at high speed, turning as if to avoid a collision. Then tell us what weight and speed etc.
We have decided that the brakes are the most important part, even at only 20 mph maximum (probably faster down our steep hills).
I asked a the Hostel Shoppe for info they said "Drum brakes modulate better and give you more control over stopping than disc brakes".I had read some where that drum brakes for tandems are not for stopping, only for "drag" going down a mountain.
Maybe both would be best. Some one told me I had to use two motorcycle drum brake wheels to stop this much weight. I have two disc brakes on my delta trike and they don't always stop perfectly. And they are never perfectly balanced.
I think that only hydraulic disc brakes can be synchronized perfectly, but a double lever is not available.
Then people tell me that a tadpole trike can spin out of control if the wheelbase is too short or there is not enough weight on the rear wheel if the trike is long enough.
So it would really be nice if every one would test their brakes at high speed, turning as if to avoid a collision. Then tell us what weight and speed etc.
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