Author Topic: Hydraulic Brakes  (Read 7497 times)

Offline vptech

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Hydraulic Brakes
« on: February 11, 2013, 07:30:41 PM »
Anybody here converted to hydr brakes? I believe you can use micro switches.  Looking for a few tips!

Offline Morgen 3Eman

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Re: Hydraulic Brakes
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2013, 09:43:27 PM »
Hi vptech,

I put hydraulic brakes on my Morgen 3Eman.  But I have to tell you that I did not put bike brakes on it because of the weight of the total machine and driver.  It is just my personal experience that bike hydraulic brakes do not have enough heat capacity, so I put a set of scooter brakes on it.  The master cylinder has a micro switch built into it for the brake lights.  The whole system was only $80-$90.   I found several vendors by Googling.

TTFN,
Dennis

Offline vptech

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Re: Hydraulic Brakes
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2013, 11:58:42 PM »
thanks for the input.  I have been an electric scooter rider for three years now but plan on selling them and building a couple bikes from scratch.  Most of the bikes that I've been looking to purchase for the E-conversion have Hydro brakes.  I think I'll save myself the hassle of them and find bikes with mech. brakes instead.

Offline MAGICPIE3FOCUSPOWER

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Re: Hydraulic Brakes
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2013, 09:15:03 AM »
I have mechanical brakes at front and rear with 203mm rotors.
A lot of brake power even too much brake for rear (you can hear de hub making sound).
Hopefully the 4mm cover screws are strong enough ;D

Offline Lollandster

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Re: Hydraulic Brakes
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2013, 11:01:22 AM »
Here's a thread mentioning a couple of solutions:
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=30376

Let us know how it goes if you go for hydraulics. I'm looking to upgrade my bike with hydraulic breaks. I have the smartPie and that small motor shouldn't be able to overpower the breaks so I probably don't need a cutoff switch (unless I want regen breaking)

I have tried both hydraulic and mechanical disc breaks and the stopping power is about the same. The travel of the lever is very different (How hard you squeeze the lever on hydraulics determents the stopping power, while it is more about how far you move the lever on mechanical breaks that determents the amount of breaking power (just my observation)). The hydraulic system more or less self adjusts which is nice.
Disclaimer: I know nothing.
My ebike Build blog

Offline MAGICPIE3FOCUSPOWER

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Re: Hydraulic Brakes
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2013, 11:22:30 AM »
Yup with mechanical I have to adjust after some running hours.

Also does anyone has the problem with the rear disc wipe (disc and pads contact) area.

If I install the IS mount adapter conform the normal installation procedures the wipe area is just a half of the pads.

So I had to rotate 180 deg. this is a wrong way of installing IS adapter.
But now the wipe area is 100%, so more contact > more brake power.

Offline Bikemad

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Re: Hydraulic Brakes
« Reply #6 on: February 13, 2013, 03:47:22 PM »
Also does anyone has the problem with the rear disc wipe (disc and pads contact) area.

If I install the IS mount adapter conform the normal installation procedures the wipe area is just a half of the pads.


Perhaps a larger diameter disc might have been the best solution, as it would have allowed correct installation of the adapter and should also have improved braking effect slightly, due to the larger diameter of the disc.

What diameter disc did you fit?

It is just my personal experience that bike hydraulic brakes do not have enough heat capacity, so I put a set of scooter brakes on it.

I wasn't really happy with the brakes, (mechanical bike discs), and I last week I found a vendor of ATV parts that had a two caliper hydraulic system , with a 4 mm thick  200mm rotor diameter that mounts to a  common 6 bolt bike hub. 

Dennis, you're starting to confuse me now. Were your original disc brakes operated by cables or hydraulics?
And did the replacement brakes actually come from a scooter or an ATV (quad bike)?

I'm not being pedantic, I'm simply trying to clarify some of the random bits of information stuck inside my head.  ;)

Alan
 

Offline Morgen 3Eman

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Re: Hydraulic Brakes
« Reply #7 on: February 13, 2013, 06:52:16 PM »
Hi Alan,

The first brakes I had on my Morgen were mechanical disc brakes from a bike.  180-200 mm if I remember correctly.  They were quite capable of stopping from full speed once, but were quickly rendered useless on downhill roads, because of the very low heat capacity of the actual disc.  If you ever drove a first generation Austin Mini-Cooper with disc brakes, you know how great they stopped once, and how quickly they faded with each additional application.   The discs simply did not have enough mass and cooling capacity to keep the pads from over heating.  I'll admit to being a fanatic about braking performance.  Old Fords and Austins taught me about bad brakes, and a ride in a  racing XKE taught me how great brakes can perform. 

The hydraulic system I found was purchased from an ATV parts vendor, but were labeled as being for a scooter.  My guess is that they are generic parts and only the hoses make them fit  a particular vehicle.  The thing I really liked about them was the fact that they cost much  less than the bike parts, and worked so much better. 

TTFN,
Dennis

Offline Bikemad

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Re: Hydraulic Brakes
« Reply #8 on: February 14, 2013, 01:42:42 AM »

I'm guessing they were meant for either three wheeled scooters or quad bikes, which would explain why they also have the parking brake facility incorporated into the brake lever assembly:

 

Alan
 

Offline Morgen 3Eman

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Re: Hydraulic Brakes
« Reply #9 on: February 14, 2013, 05:16:56 AM »
You are probably right.

Dennis

Offline MAGICPIE3FOCUSPOWER

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Re: Hydraulic Brakes
« Reply #10 on: February 14, 2013, 08:32:10 AM »
Nope rotor size 160mm is correct, the adapter is Avid IS 160mm.
So that should be fine.

O well now it fits, with this wrong way of installation.