Alan B
100 GW
Today was my first commute with the new configuration of the Magnetic eBrake Lever (changed it during my long weekend). The analog circuitry has not changed, it is still putting out about 0.8-2.3V into the Sabvoton with the eBrake gain set at 500. What has changed is the switch, last week I was using the front brake switch to enable the eBrake so I had to pull the front lever a little to allow the rear lever to work the eBrake. Pulling the rear brake lever alone did nothing, so coordinated lever operation was required, and this caused certain issues, such as pulling the rear lever first to no effect, then pulling the front lever a little and having the rear ebrake come on at a higher level than desired.
Now the setup is more conventional, both the switch and the analog voltage for the eBrake come from the same rear brake lever. The difference is subtle but important. The ergonomics is better and it feels great. Most of the stops and descents today didn't require that I touch the front brake lever at all. The eBrake, even though I don't have it set as high as I plan to still has enough braking to bring the bike to a very nearly stopped speed (perhaps 1 mph), and putting down a foot is easily enough to stop completely. I will raise the gain further, either directly or with the amplifier that I am building, but it is good enough now to control speed down a 15% grade and come to a stop at lights and signs.
So now it works and feels like a "power rear brake lever". There is just a light spring for resistance, so it is easy to pull this lever. One finger is more than enough. It pulls through until it hits the handgrip, so there is a lot of motion, but the physical pull resistance never gets very high, there is just the return spring on the lever to work against. So it feels much easier than a regular brake.
This is the way an ebrake should be.
Thanks again to zombiess for his customized Sabvoton controller that made this possible.
Now the setup is more conventional, both the switch and the analog voltage for the eBrake come from the same rear brake lever. The difference is subtle but important. The ergonomics is better and it feels great. Most of the stops and descents today didn't require that I touch the front brake lever at all. The eBrake, even though I don't have it set as high as I plan to still has enough braking to bring the bike to a very nearly stopped speed (perhaps 1 mph), and putting down a foot is easily enough to stop completely. I will raise the gain further, either directly or with the amplifier that I am building, but it is good enough now to control speed down a 15% grade and come to a stop at lights and signs.
So now it works and feels like a "power rear brake lever". There is just a light spring for resistance, so it is easy to pull this lever. One finger is more than enough. It pulls through until it hits the handgrip, so there is a lot of motion, but the physical pull resistance never gets very high, there is just the return spring on the lever to work against. So it feels much easier than a regular brake.
This is the way an ebrake should be.
Thanks again to zombiess for his customized Sabvoton controller that made this possible.