Brakes

[lnanek]

I have a half dozen of the zoom hybrid hydraulic brakes as well. Stop well and eliminate the squeal many entry level bikes arrive with. I did have to learn to bleed brakes for them, though, and they've always needed it eventually, if not right out of the box. Easy to do with mineral oil and a cheap kit off Amazon, though.

For my latest bike I tried upgrading to a less cheap, but still cheap, hybrid hydraulic that advertises it has a reservoir for extra fluid:

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mKRNLOR

No problems with these yet the first year.

 

[Jimi7]

I use a threaded rivet insertion tool and put in threaded M5 rivets positioned to suit the battery mount, like a normal pop rivet tool but takes threaded rivets, but I have made a lot of use of the tool. If the battery is under-slung I put two 20mm / 25mm velco straps around the battery and bottom tube. Just an idea but there are many ways, first two are mine.

Looks like I am going to go with the rivnuts after all. Montague changed the folding mechanism on their frame in 2016 and the quick release is now under the top tube. However, if mount the battery cradle backwards, so the wires come out by the head tube, I can release the quick release and the creates just enough space for me to remove the battery. A couple straps and I can make this work and it'll look more "OEM".

 

[dgc]

What would we do without rivnuts, even with a under slung battery. My 29er now has Roxshox silver 35 forks giving a very smooth ride, will changed the cable ties to grey ones, tiny change but used the white ties to get the cable runs tidy and grey ties to finish the look off.

 

[molybdenum]

hydraulic brakes work well, though I wish the pads would last longer. Even the best quality semimetallic or sintered pads seldom last more than 3k km, which is about 3 months riding for me. I'm pretty used to pulling off the wheels and replacing these, but it will always seem tedious.

 

[Apartunis]

hydraulic brakes work well, though I wish the pads would last longer. Even the best quality semimetallic or sintered pads seldom last more than 3k km, which is about 3 months riding for me. I'm pretty used to pulling off the wheels and replacing these, but it will always seem tedious.

Hydraulic brakes work great when they work. When they do not they become a much bigger problem than cable brakes do. They brought a number of new problems to the game while contributing nothing of practical benefit except for those with disabled hands or very strange brake line routing.

Pads vary widely in how long they last. I have seen disc pads in city use last as little as 20 miles or as much as many thousands. Rim brake pads of course last much longer and are quieter.

The last time I changed pads on my own Avid BB7 brake, I did it in about 5 minutes with the bike sitting in my yard on its kickstand. Wheels stayed on. I detached the IS bracket, pulled out the old pads and put in new ones, dialed the pad adjusters and reinstalled the brake. It was about as tedious as pumping up the tires. YMMV especially if you have to drain off some excess hydraulic fluid or you have flat mount/post mount brakes or there are sticky pistons. These things are avoidable.

 

[dgc]

This may sound daft but what weight of e-bike are you guys braking as I have done thousands of miles on hydraulic brake pads but as previous I go for lightweight full suspension e-bikes with a built weight of 40lbs and me at around the 140lb so 180lb all up. I do have a heavier e-bike for long distance but again the pads and discs / rotors are fine. I do ride mostly on the flat, cross country, tow paths etc but still do downhill on forest rides.

 

[molybdenum]

This may sound daft but what weight of e-bike are you guys braking as I have done thousands of miles on hydraulic brake pads but as previous I go for lightweight full suspension e-bikes with a built weight of 40lbs and me at around the 140lb so 180lb all up. I do have a heavier e-bike for long distance but again the pads and discs / rotors are fine. I do ride mostly on the flat, cross country, tow paths etc but still do downhill on forest rides.

I have a minimalist build, weighing 40 lb, plus 180 lb rider for 220 lb total. My route is hilly and there are many areas where I need to brake approaching bottom of hill with traffic lights, etc. I try to be gentle as possible on the brakes, coasting up to lights etc, but getting 3k km out of pads is a generous estimate.

 

[Jimi7]

What would we do without rivnuts, even with a under slung battery. My 29er now has Roxshox silver 35 forks giving a very smooth ride, will changed the cable ties to grey ones, tiny change but used the white ties to get the cable runs tidy and grey ties to finish the look off.

I have a feeling I'm going to be using more rivnuts since it seems like they're only sold in packs of 50.

 

[Jimi7]

This may sound daft but what weight of e-bike are you guys braking as I have done thousands of miles on hydraulic brake pads but as previous I go for lightweight full suspension e-bikes with a built weight of 40lbs and me at around the 140lb so 180lb all up. I do have a heavier e-bike for long distance but again the pads and discs / rotors are fine. I do ride mostly on the flat, cross country, tow paths etc but still do downhill on forest rides.

I have feeling I'll be pushing 275# total. I come in at ~210, figure, the bike already weighs 31#, add the motor, battery, back pack, rack, etc. When I get this thing finished, I have a feeling/intent that I can get 210# down to ~190#.

 

[dgc]

We all think that, when I was younger I was 120lb, many moons ago, or friends say you mean before the Boer Wars.

 

[raylo32]

I have XT hydro brakes on my dual susp MTB and they are fantastic, even though the previous v-brakes were more than adequate. I have GRX hydros on my gravel bike and they are OK, but don't seem much, if any, better stopping than high end road bike caliper brakes. In both cases the pads don't last anywhere near as long as caliper and v-brake shoes... and if you contaminate them in any way they are instantly toast. I have tried sanding and cleaning and such and it never lasts. All in all IDK that hydros are really worth all the trouble with wearing out and bleeding and such. But changing disc pads is easier than getting caliper and v-brake shoes toed and aligned properly. Discs are just plug and pay, at least with Shimanos. As far as failure goes, a major hydro leak is about as likely as a cable breaking, which is not much.

 

[raylo32]

I always say, "25 years and 25 pounds ago...". LOL.

We all think that, when I was younger I was 120lb, many moons ago, or friends say you mean before the Boer Wars.

 

[99t4]

I have a feeling I'm going to be using more rivnuts since it seems like they're only sold in packs of 50.

If you have access to an oldschool type H/W store you can get them by the one.

 

[Jimi7]

If you have access to an oldschool type H/W store you can get them by the one.

There were some places around that specialized in fasteners only and I'm sure I could have gotten them there, but they were closed on the weekend and I'm in the middle of a big hands on project at work for the next week, so I just ordered them on Amazon. I think it was ~$6 for a 40 pack. Can't beat the price.

 

[OlderGiantFan]

I have a half dozen of the zoom hybrid hydraulic brakes as well. Stop well and eliminate the squeal many entry level bikes arrive with.

My Giants have decent disc brakes that have never squealed in all the time I've ridden them, but the other night, in mild fog, they did. Only on one section of the road, and only for 3 or 4 seconds. I've ridden if fog before too so that's nothing new. If I wanted to waste the time, I'd probably think about why