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  1. Excellent information. I enjoy reading your Electric Bike Report. The report on types of gears was bery informative too. Tyvm.

  2. Good article; Caused me to rethink some of my assumptions. Speed times weight (bike + load + rider weight) are the critical factors. My 2 ebikes have only 1 wheel with a disk brake. The best on of the bunch is a Sturmey Archer DRUM brake (with integral dyno-hub.

  3. Sorry, but that was the weirdest written article yet! I was hoping for better information, especially for people who are wondering about a hydraulic upgrade.

    Sadly right now the two better brands are not even available. The other oddball brands that have popped up on many of the more advertised ebikes have been less than reliable, needing service right out of the shipping box!

    Thanks for addressing regen braking. As pointed out, its mostly useless on any LEV. It works on a car only because of its large mass.

    • On my e bike h brakes how do you get air out of line do you plead it like you do on a car paid $4.500. 750 motor in front. 750 motor get to talk to E CELL phone lines keep buzzy does some have answer

    • I beg to differ on your opinion since I live in a very hilly area a regenerative braking system would be helpful in putting some of the wasted energy of going down a long hill. This recouped energy would help in going further on a single charge. The weight of the lev would help in regaining lost energy. I agree that this would be useless on flat or only slightly hilly country, where I live it would be a plus.

      • You will find that the regen is very marginal for adding power, despite the terrain you describe.

        -Pete

  4. Interesting article. For the record I ran a 500w 48v front hub drive ebike with throttle, no cut off for the brakes,and a regen button, with vbrakes, for close to 10 years. Never once did I confuse throttle & brake, the regen button saved much wear on the brake pads,as well as providing extra charge for the battery, and the brakes worked fine on what was a heavy bike. What progress have we really made? Cheers

  5. The regen saved more than wear on the brake shoes, since that braking power was way better that the v-brakes could do!! Probably saved you form harm many times.

    Progress? No more need for large heavy inefficient front motors??

    Glad you had fun on your bike. Thats what its really all about.

  6. I replaced My Magnetic Sensors with a Tectro Brake Handle with built in Magnet Sensors on My Bionx Bikes. Since that upgrade, I have not had any malfunctions with the Bionx System. Also Regen Brakes do save wear on rear shoes and disks.
    I also use re-gen to charge battery going downhill without using Rear Brakes . On level terrain just pedal 10 mph.

  7. The use of the E-bike for transportation has significantly risen over the years. The introduction of electric bike solves most of the problems around traditional bikes. If you ever tried an E-bike before, you can tell how it feels. Amazing right? The ease of use and comfort that come with an E-bike is unimaginable. These electric bikes are gaining so much popularity day-by-day and more and more people are curious to buy these bikes.

  8. The main problem is that E-bike manufacturer’s need to stop thinking of these as “BICYCLES” Ditch the skinny rotors and wimpy brake system and pads and treat them as
    as low power motorcycles (125cc-175cc) and put on motor cycle rotors and brakes, Not only will they STOP so much better than the top of the line bicycle brakes, They will last longer with less problems and are cheaper. I am running 4 piston top of the line Shimano brakes with 203mm rotors , This system is very expensive ,Have skinny little pads are are just adequate for my E-bike, And the little Shimano metallic pads with cooling fins which soon wear out are not cheap.
    They need a wake up call !!!!

  9. My DIY ebike build has a 200 – 500 W rear hub motor, is 47 lbs, has kill-switch brakes, and will be used for commuting under dry conditions. I’m not convinced that disc brakes are a necessity.

  10. After doing some research, I think putting a cable actuated disc brake on my rear wheel is a very good option. Especially because it eliminates the wear on the rear rim. It’s much easier to replace brake pads and rotors than the rim of your motorized wheel.

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