Looking good! 👍
What size is the hitch receiver on your truck? I’m curious because our truck’s is 2-1/2”, and I need an adapter for 2” shanks.
Safe travels,
Jim / crewzer
The pickup in the picture is a 2". My Ram is a 2 1/2", I use an adapter on that. They are about $20 to buy.
We like our e-Bikes, but our neighborhood’s long, steep roads turned out to be quite a challenge for our bikes’ OEM brakes.
Both bikes’ original hydraulic disc brakes were 180mm rotors front and rear — apparently not heat-treated — and resin (organic) brake pads. All components were likely OEM entry-level grade.
I burned out my bike’s original pads within 76 miles, and the semi-metallic replacement pads subsequently ate the non-heat-treated rear rotor. As described above, I replaced my bike’s rotors, caliper adapters, and pads with heavy duty components, and the results are impressive, although probably still not ideal.
My wife separately concluded she was uncomfortable with her bike’s brakes. I replaced her bike’s 180mm non-heat-treated rotors with Hayes V8 203mm heat-treated models, installed new Shimano caliper adapters, upgraded her brake pads to Shimano’s latest generation resin (organic) products, and I carefully aligned her calipers and pads properly with respect to the new rotors. 😰
It was a real challenge to find 203mm rotors with a “wide” braking surface for “wide” pads, as most large rotors are apparently feature “narrow” braking surfaces and use narrow pads in an effort to save weight. 🙄
What a difference in braking performance! Happy wife, happy life!
Safe travels!
Jim / crewzer
New 203mm front disc brake rotor and pads on DW’s ~60 lbs. e-Bike:
New 203mm rear rotor and pads:
The rotor width issue:
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Great report on the brake problems and a solution. I will definitely be looking into this.
Thanks, John. I did considerable internet research on mountain bike-, downhill-, e-Bike-, and heavy-rider braking issues, component capabilities and compatibilities to find the solution for my wife’s bike.
I hope the details of our solution are useful to you and to others; please feel to contact me with questions or for further discussion.
Safe travels,
Jim / crewzer
Thanks for posting info on the brake upgrades.
I’m not happy with the brakes on my Lectric 3.0………., same issue, over time doing a lot of downhills that require braking kills the pads. Lectric is offering (no cost, free of charge) hydraulic brake retrofit kits to 3.0 owners……..I hope the pads on the retrofit kits are better than the original.
2 weeks ago we rode the bike trail around the city of Sioux Falls SD, 22.5 miles it was amazing. We stayed in pedal assist 1 for about half of the ride, but when we got out into the open we were forced to use the juice. There was a 25mph sustained wind that day and we had a headwind and a crosswind for about a third of the ride.
We are pretty flat for the most part where we live so brakes haven't been an issue yet. But thanks to you Jim they will be closely watched. Your brake upgrade is very useful knowledge.
Over memorial day weekend we did a 20 mile ride down by Yankton SD and used 1/3 of our battery, the next day we rode into town from our place (5 miles) and then decided to go a bit farther. Due to wind and hills I ran out of battery 5 miles from home, I do not recommend this at all. A 70 lb bike and a 280lb man do not mix well in hilly terrain. I made it but I was working hard, I had to walk 2 of the hills.
I do love these ebikes though. Happy riding.
Larry,
I’ve heard about Lectric’s no-cost hydraulic retrofit kits to replace the original mechanical disc brake configuration. I hope the fix works for you, and I’ll be looking forward to your report!
Safe travels,
Jim / crewzer
@Bigboom338 posted:2 weeks ago we rode the bike trail around the city of Sioux Falls SD, 22.5 miles it was amazing. We stayed in pedal assist 1 for about half of the ride, but when we got out into the open we were forced to use the juice. There was a 25mph sustained wind that day and we had a headwind and a crosswind for about a third of the ride.
We are pretty flat for the most part where we live so brakes haven't been an issue yet. But thanks to you Jim they will be closely watched. Your brake upgrade is very useful knowledge.
Over memorial day weekend we did a 20 mile ride down by Yankton SD and used 1/3 of our battery, the next day we rode into town from our place (5 miles) and then decided to go a bit farther. Due to wind and hills I ran out of battery 5 miles from home, I do not recommend this at all. A 70 lb bike and a 280lb man do not.mix well in hilly terrain. I made it bit I wad working hard, I had to walk 2 of the hills.
I do love these ebikes though. Happy riding.
Great report, Mike! Yeah, I can see riding into a 25 mph headwind would require some extra “juice”! 💨 🚴
I’ve started a new thread where we can discuss trails and experiences: https://community.lanceowners....c/617765965228876402
Safe travels,
Jim / crewzer
Jim, where did you source your brake parts? I am thinking that I should get some pads ordered just to have on hand. We are planning on riding the Mickelson trail in the Black Hills in August or September.
Mike,
I tried identifying and sourcing replacement parts at our local bike shops, but that didn’t work out, mostly due to poor inventory.
Here are the parts and sources for the brake upgrade on my wife’s bike; prices and availability seem to vary widely:
Rotors: Hayes V8 203 mm six-bolt from Wheat Ridge Cyclery
Brake pads: Shimano B05S-RX resin / organic from Amazon
“+43” Adapter (post mount) for front caliper: Shimano F203P/P from Amazon
“+43” Adapter (side mount) for rear caliper: Shimano R203P/S from Amazon
I also needed a couple of 6mm ID flat washers to use as spacers between the calipers and adapters to align the caliper and brake pad height with respect to the rotor braking surface area.
These are the parts I used for my wife’s bike, and they’ve so far worked out very well. However, not all bikes use the same specs for each component, so your needs may vary.
HTH,
Jim / crewzer
Caliper and pads are well aligned with “wide” front rotor for maximum pad-to-rotor contact area and optimal braking performance.
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Love the posts on e-bikes. We bought ours before considering taking them camping... Each weighs 77 lbs (KBO Ranger)- so no bike rack on the back of the Lance. We live in Florida - but so enjoy riding around St Augustine, Fernandina Beach (Fort Clinch) and other areas (O'Leno/High Springs). With my wife's knee replacement, it has given us back some of our youthful fun.
Considerations - weight of the bike!! Not only are our bikes heavier than normal, but bulky. I'd go with a much lighter bike for life in the flat lands. I have made a ramp into our truck bed that works ok. My wife wouldn't want to do it tho... Range - ours has close to 60 miles - no problem testing/proving that out. Suspension - we added a shock absorber for our seats - fantastic for us both.
Happy camping and travels!
Hey Crewzer - If the rotors and pads don't fix your issue hit me up, I chased this issue on my non-E MTB for a couple years but have found a solution that has now worked for the last 2 years.
COC —
Thanks for the follow-up and offer.
Our brake mods seem to have worked out. For example, my bike’s replacement pads have lasted over 500 miles, which is probably quite good considering our steep neighborhood roads, the bike’s weight, and my weight. However, they are considerably worn, so one of my June projects will be to replace the pads on both bikes.
Nonetheless, if you have the time, I’d like to know more about your mods.
Thanks again,
Jim / crewzer
I have tried a bunch of stuff to get my brakes to bite better, not fade, and not burn up the pads. I found that my pads were glazing and I was wasting half the pad. I finally found a great combo that works as long as I don't ride the brakes on long or steep downhill sections and use a on/off brake stroke. The brakes are 2 piston Shimano Saints, rotors are Shimano Ice tech 203/180mm, and Shimano saint finned resin pads. I went back to resin as they bite better without the warmup and don't glaze as much, the tradeoff is they don't last as long as metallic. The other trick is I get new rotors ever other set of pads, a little excessive but I can really tell a difference.
I ride about 3k miles a year for exercise since my bad knees can only handle a bike for exercise. I usually only go through one set of pads in that 3k!
Amazon.com : Shimano H03A Resin Disc Brake Pads and Spring with Fins : Sports & Outdoors
Thanks for the detailed info and your report!
Safe travels,
Jim / crewzer