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I'm ignorant here. Why is a parking brake useful with a tandem? Do you mean that I'll be able to stand the thing up on its own? That would be cool. Could be a great way to reserve a good spot by the side of a bike race...
Sadly I saw @Snicks post too late. That would possibly have been a better bet than the one I've just ordered. I wanted to get one where the cradles for the straddle wire were quite a long way apart, to help with spacing on either side of the seat-tube.
Diamond_Supercool-
I'm ignorant here. Why is a parking brake useful with a tandem? Do you mean that I'll be able to stand the thing up on its own? That would be cool. Could be a great way to reserve a good spot by the side of a bike race...
No. Well, yes if you fit a kick-stand. But really it just stops the bike rolling away when you lean it up, which tandems do more readily because they're heavier and you need a long, straight thing to lean them against, which tends to encourage them to roll.
It also means you can let go of everything when you stop at the side of the road to read the map, which is surprisingly handy. It frees up both hands and it's surprisingly tiring and awkward trying to keep a 30kg bike still between your knees.
Just like a handbrake on a car really.
I use ours all the time.
Hefty
The advantage of having a drag brake is to use it as a parking brake. It's surprisingly useful on a tandem, I almost miss having it on my solos as well.