Finally I had the chance to upgrade my rig with Hydraulics disc ebrakes. I had hydraulics disc brakes before, but now it can enable regen!
I will update my post on my ebike later on. This review is solely for the Tektro Ecomp disc brakes
Background:
I have a hybrid ebike with the Tektro comp hydraulic brakes, also DIY ebike. Base on this, I determined the E-comp version should not be too much different.
Review:
Where I got it:
I got it from illa of ebikessf.com. It is not listed there so you will have to shoot him an email if you want one. I also got some disc with the purchase. Since my front wheel only accepts center mount disc, I had to buy a shimano compatible 203mm disc rotors. I got it from ebay. See the picture of the front Disc rotors/disc brakes
Feel:
The hydraulic disc brakes (I owned Shimano and Tektro) are smooth and comfortable. When you need the extra stopping power, it's there. You have precise control of how much braking you want.
Response:
Super responsive. I was crossing a railroad tracks to a sleeping driver who was not paying attention to the green light and had to brake hard to dodge her. It was super responsive.
Ebrake feature:
I connected it to my Lyen 18FET controller and it works well. Even the slightest press, engages the regen. If I disable the regen, the ebrakes does function as a cut-out for the throttle. i.e. if I press the brakes, and try to go with the throttle, it will over ride the throttle. This was a missing feature before when I didn't have the ebrakes. I think I throttle and broke at the same time once before these ebrakes and it was not too good.
Installation:
a) It was relatively easy. The only difficult part was to remove the center shocks and place the cable through it. See the picture below.
b) The front brakes did not work too well, so I had to add washers to prevent the disc from hitting the inside of the calipers. I don't think my mountain bike was build for 203mm disc rotors. See picture below
View attachment 4
c) I also had to put extra washers to space the disc away from the motor because of the minimal clearance between the brakes and the motor itself. See picture below
d) I also had to move my greenfield kickstand forward a bit to accommodate the 203mm rear disc rotors. See picture below.
The only thing I don't like about the whole setup itself is the regen. I notice that even the slightest press of the lever, the regen would engage pretty hard. This really defeats the point of having hydraulics disc brakes with precise control over the braking power. It would be nice if future brake lever support variable regen as oppose to on/off function.
Overall, I am happy. Since I upgraded to from 160mm to 203mm rotors, I have more braking power. It was also much much easier to adjust the rear disc to rotate true since the motor does not. Now the rear disc does not rub against the brakes pad anymore. All I hear now is the high pitch squeak of the motor. But at speed > 5mph, you cannot hear it anymore. Therefore, this bike is completely silent!
The only last issue is on how long my tires will last. Since I am using regen quite a bit lately, I do feel the rear tires wearing out a bit faster than before. So far 2K miles on the Schwalable Big Apple Balloon. We will see how long before I have to rotate/replace.
After this upgrade, I am officially done with my ebike. There is still the issue with covering up the battery, but that will be a long process and I might never get around to it. Now I can truly say this setup is close to the stealth bomber in performance and reliability. : )
I will update my post on my ebike later on. This review is solely for the Tektro Ecomp disc brakes
Background:
I have a hybrid ebike with the Tektro comp hydraulic brakes, also DIY ebike. Base on this, I determined the E-comp version should not be too much different.
Review:
Where I got it:
I got it from illa of ebikessf.com. It is not listed there so you will have to shoot him an email if you want one. I also got some disc with the purchase. Since my front wheel only accepts center mount disc, I had to buy a shimano compatible 203mm disc rotors. I got it from ebay. See the picture of the front Disc rotors/disc brakes
Feel:
The hydraulic disc brakes (I owned Shimano and Tektro) are smooth and comfortable. When you need the extra stopping power, it's there. You have precise control of how much braking you want.
Response:
Super responsive. I was crossing a railroad tracks to a sleeping driver who was not paying attention to the green light and had to brake hard to dodge her. It was super responsive.
Ebrake feature:
I connected it to my Lyen 18FET controller and it works well. Even the slightest press, engages the regen. If I disable the regen, the ebrakes does function as a cut-out for the throttle. i.e. if I press the brakes, and try to go with the throttle, it will over ride the throttle. This was a missing feature before when I didn't have the ebrakes. I think I throttle and broke at the same time once before these ebrakes and it was not too good.
Installation:
a) It was relatively easy. The only difficult part was to remove the center shocks and place the cable through it. See the picture below.
b) The front brakes did not work too well, so I had to add washers to prevent the disc from hitting the inside of the calipers. I don't think my mountain bike was build for 203mm disc rotors. See picture below
View attachment 4
c) I also had to put extra washers to space the disc away from the motor because of the minimal clearance between the brakes and the motor itself. See picture below
d) I also had to move my greenfield kickstand forward a bit to accommodate the 203mm rear disc rotors. See picture below.
The only thing I don't like about the whole setup itself is the regen. I notice that even the slightest press of the lever, the regen would engage pretty hard. This really defeats the point of having hydraulics disc brakes with precise control over the braking power. It would be nice if future brake lever support variable regen as oppose to on/off function.
Overall, I am happy. Since I upgraded to from 160mm to 203mm rotors, I have more braking power. It was also much much easier to adjust the rear disc to rotate true since the motor does not. Now the rear disc does not rub against the brakes pad anymore. All I hear now is the high pitch squeak of the motor. But at speed > 5mph, you cannot hear it anymore. Therefore, this bike is completely silent!
The only last issue is on how long my tires will last. Since I am using regen quite a bit lately, I do feel the rear tires wearing out a bit faster than before. So far 2K miles on the Schwalable Big Apple Balloon. We will see how long before I have to rotate/replace.
After this upgrade, I am officially done with my ebike. There is still the issue with covering up the battery, but that will be a long process and I might never get around to it. Now I can truly say this setup is close to the stealth bomber in performance and reliability. : )
