Luckily the old brakes came right out without a hitch, along with the lower cantilever boss plugs. I had a spare braze-on cantilever stud, so I threw it in the picture for comparison.
Here's what my moveable cantilever stud looks like. It's drilled and tapped on one end for an Allen bolt that retains the brake arm, and tapped on the other end for a lock nut and to screw into the fork bosses. There's a pin that goes through the stud, to provide a stop for the arm's return spring.
Here's the 650B arm with a new spring and the retaining bolt inserted. It's ready to adjust.
Here's what it looks like assembled. Yes, the brake blocks are extra long, and they barely clear the plug. But they do operate freely without hitting it.
Repeat the procedure on the back. It went a bit less smoothly as I have a bunch of junk in the garage and it's hard to work on both sides of my bike stand.
This brake-swapping process probably took me about an hour to accomplish. Because I had done the setup before, I didn't have to change the main brake cables or the saddle wires or the brake pad alignment. The rims are the same rims I used way back then ... I did make minor adjustments on the main cables, but I have inline adjusters at both brake handles plus front stem is drilled/tapped, and the rear cable hanger is too. So I can adjust to my heart's content.
I put the Phil disc brake on - without a hitch. No adjustments required there either. Here's how she looks now with the new setup. Just about the same, just a bit lower and tires a bit fatter. Actually there's a lot more sidewall, and a lot less cracking and crazing.
Here's the before shot, for comparison.
Did you notice I flipped this photo? That's why the triple crank is on this side in the lower picture.
It was time for a ride.
Riding a tandem does seem weird without a stoker. But it wasn't much harder than riding a single bike - just requires a bit more care on the corners. If you ride with toe clips as we do, you need to tape them to the crankarms or connect the rear pedals to the front ones with bungee cords. Otherwise the toe clips drag on the ground.
I stopped a few blocks away to fine-tune the rear derailleur (different wheel and cluster - this one is actually a 5-speed) and then took off for a short ride.
I saw the fellow I noticed a few days ago with a load to rival a cross-Sudan freight truck.
I rode up alongside and said "Hey, nice rig. Recycling?" He looked at my tandem, smiled, grunted, and chugged on. I guess if you live by your wits, ride with your hoodie up, and avoid society, you don't need to make small talk with a stranger on a tandem.
MUSTANG CONVERTIBLES
No none. I haven't been out of the house except for this ride.
PS - ten minutes after posting this, I went to the store. Less than 100 yards from my house, I saw two, blue with top down and white with top up.
PS - ten minutes after posting this, I went to the store. Less than 100 yards from my house, I saw two, blue with top down and white with top up.
