Ebike Initial Thoughts - buy new or buy a kit to convert an old bike?

[classicalgas]

Hydraulic anything on a bicycle is for motor vehicle worshippers. It imposes problems without addressing any.

No cable brake will ever have as smooth a lever feel as even a basic hydraulic disk. That alone is not a good enough reason to run them, IMO, but if I didn't swap handlebars around so much (and change cable/ line length) I'd use them more often.

 

[Chalo]

This brake I made in the late 20th century has more power than any bicycle disc of any size I've come across, and it feels better and smoother than any hydraulic brake, on any vehicle, that I've come across:


Still, I don't have to make my own brakes to be happier with rim brakes than with discs. I got my first hydraulic disc bicycle brakes with full floating 9" rotors in 1992. They weren't all that, and the newer ones still aren't.

 

[neptronix]

personally, on a bike with no rear disc brakes, i don't mind using rear regen on a DD completely ( with the best torque arms you can get ) instead of a mechanical brake.

On a leafbike 1.5kw, i was pushing 4kw-6kw forward, 1-1.5kw regen, and it was awesome because i only needed one lever.. a slight pressure on the lever would start regen.. more pressure would engage the front brake. ~90% of my braking put power back into the battery, and this really helps on my very hilly terrain or stop n go areas in the city.

In this case i'd always oversize the crap out of your front rotor so that in the ultra rare case that regen fails, you still have an excess of stopping power on the front to make up for the loss of the rear.

 

[classicalgas]

This brake I made in the late 20th century has more power than any bicycle disc of any size I've come across, and it feels better and smoother than any hydraulic brake, on any vehicle, that I've come across:
View attachment 372669

Still, I don't have up make my own brakes to be happier with rim brakes than with discs. I got my first hydraulic disc bicycle brakes with full floating 9" rotors in 1992. They weren't all that, and the newer ones still aren't.

That hand made rim brake and reinforced crown setup weighs more, and certainly would cost more as a retail product, than any but the most expensive multi piston hydraulic disk setup.

And it would still work lousy as soon as the rim got even slightly bent or "potato chipped".

I'm glad you're happy with rim brakes, most of us prefer disks.

 

[hillslayer@]

This brake I made in the late 20th century has more power than any bicycle disc of any size I've come across, and it feels better and smoother than any hydraulic brake, on any vehicle, that I've come across:
View attachment 372669

Still, I don't have to make my own brakes to be happier with rim brakes than with discs. I got my first hydraulic disc bicycle brakes with full floating 9" rotors in 1992. They weren't all that, and the newer ones still aren't.

You and a really small crowd love those antique brakes.

 

[Chalo]

You and a really small crowd love those antique brakes.

Yeah, and we can keep them running without proprietary parts and fluids, and we can do it on the road if we need to. Seems like most hydro disc fans bring their janky leaky crap to me because they're powerless to fix it.

 

[hillslayer@]

My first build was a bafang Bbso2. I was considering using one of my antique mountain bikes and am glad I bought a modern bike. 29 er wheels and hydraulic brakes made a huge difference over those old bikes.

 

[Papa]

The maximum deceleration rate on a bicycle, isn't governed solely by the brakes. it's limited by the GVW, CoM height, wheelbase, contact patch grip, and speed. Nearly any decent quality stoppers (within the last 3 decades, or more) will provide sufficient negative G's to easily pitch anyone over the bars. What's been seriously lacking in cable and/or mechanical brakes.... is smooth and predictable 'modulation'.

For the better part of 5 years, I ran these until pads became unavailable....