I stole the rear wheel off the cycle truck a few months ago when the Kogswell showed up.
Alex recently gave me a rear wheel for the cycle truck. Then a couple days later, Justin showed up with a forgotten gem: the original rear wheel from the old tandem. The great thing about this old wheel is that it is threaded for a drum brake. The even better thing about the wheel is that it's super old 6-speed and only spaced at 135mm. So bam... I spun the old Araya drum brake on there and crammed the whole outfit into the SH-80.
When Alex made the cycle truck, he included a parking braking under the chainstays: a u-brake deal that is actuated by a downtube shifter. The fortuitous thing about using the u-brakes is that the brake mounts are drilled for a derailleur cable, so cable routing to the rear arm on the Araya drum brake came for free! Stuff never works out like that for me. I'd like to think Alex had that planned out.
By using a shifter to work the brake, I can use the brake as a drag for long descents with lots of weight -- and it won't overheat. Admittedly: this is an over-wrought and mostly unnecessary feature for how I use this bike, but I'd like to think I may find myself at the top of Sherman Pass someday with a full load to deliver down to the river.
Mileage-wise: this cycle truck has always been the trailer by a long shot. But measured by quality of rides, this bike is right up there. It's a great fit. And loaded up, it's just effortless to roll around on. I strapped the monster Wald on there and made a store run this morning. Lemon-squeezy.
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