Hey peoples,
Does anyone else suffer repeated rear brake failure on their ebikes (or any other bikes)?
I commute into Sheffield every day which means I have some pretty savage hills to play with. I can usualy get 4 - 6 weeks out of a set of brake pads (Shimano Zee 4 piston calipers front and rear) less if there has been a wet period, however every few months the rear pads just give up the ghost, they look perfectly OK but loose 100% of the friction, I can squeeze the lever to the point of breaking it or blowing a hose and nothing, zilch, nadda just an unbelievable ear shredding noise like an old bus coming to a halt with every dog in a 2 mile radius barking and howling.
Admittedly I am very heavy on the brakes either coming to a halt from 30 mph+ at the bottom of a steep hill or braking every few seconds as I speed through some of the hilly suburb's. I always use both front and rear brakes at the same time to keep the bike balanced often feathering the rear to keep the bike strait if I'm doing an emergency stop (car cutting me up ect). I have a muddy 60% / 30 degree climb / decent (flood embankment) which takes a bit of finesse on the brakes!
I'm currently using Uber orange Kevlar pads that give a good feel, are not to hard on the rotors and if I buy them in bulk cost about £6 a pair, other pads fail in the same way.
I'm kind of at a loss as to whether they are glazing or getting contaminated. Sometimes such as this morning if I repeatedly pump the lever to get some heat into them they start to work to a degree, other times it makes no difference. I don't think its the hydraulics as if I put new pads in the system works perfectly. I have taken the failed pads out and sanded the top layer off and washed the rotors in acetone but still no friction and lots of squealing. If its oil contamination which I suspect it is then I am at a complete loss to where it is coming from, I do ride across country so there is a lot of dust, nettles, weeds ect. Also I ride in heavy rush our traffic so maybe its some sort of airborne contamination.
When I first started ebiking I was using rim brakes but these never ever worked as every time it rained it would wash chain oil onto the rim, currently I oil the chain very sparingly and keep a good lookout for anything on the rear wheel. The front brakes never have this problem but the pads will wear away in a few days if the rears stop working.
I've yet to turn the rotors blue but have burnt myself when I've stupidly torched them after I reach my destination!
In an ideal world I would just love regen braking to offset the pads.
Any ideas?
Does anyone else suffer repeated rear brake failure on their ebikes (or any other bikes)?
I commute into Sheffield every day which means I have some pretty savage hills to play with. I can usualy get 4 - 6 weeks out of a set of brake pads (Shimano Zee 4 piston calipers front and rear) less if there has been a wet period, however every few months the rear pads just give up the ghost, they look perfectly OK but loose 100% of the friction, I can squeeze the lever to the point of breaking it or blowing a hose and nothing, zilch, nadda just an unbelievable ear shredding noise like an old bus coming to a halt with every dog in a 2 mile radius barking and howling.
Admittedly I am very heavy on the brakes either coming to a halt from 30 mph+ at the bottom of a steep hill or braking every few seconds as I speed through some of the hilly suburb's. I always use both front and rear brakes at the same time to keep the bike balanced often feathering the rear to keep the bike strait if I'm doing an emergency stop (car cutting me up ect). I have a muddy 60% / 30 degree climb / decent (flood embankment) which takes a bit of finesse on the brakes!
I'm currently using Uber orange Kevlar pads that give a good feel, are not to hard on the rotors and if I buy them in bulk cost about £6 a pair, other pads fail in the same way.
I'm kind of at a loss as to whether they are glazing or getting contaminated. Sometimes such as this morning if I repeatedly pump the lever to get some heat into them they start to work to a degree, other times it makes no difference. I don't think its the hydraulics as if I put new pads in the system works perfectly. I have taken the failed pads out and sanded the top layer off and washed the rotors in acetone but still no friction and lots of squealing. If its oil contamination which I suspect it is then I am at a complete loss to where it is coming from, I do ride across country so there is a lot of dust, nettles, weeds ect. Also I ride in heavy rush our traffic so maybe its some sort of airborne contamination.
When I first started ebiking I was using rim brakes but these never ever worked as every time it rained it would wash chain oil onto the rim, currently I oil the chain very sparingly and keep a good lookout for anything on the rear wheel. The front brakes never have this problem but the pads will wear away in a few days if the rears stop working.
I've yet to turn the rotors blue but have burnt myself when I've stupidly torched them after I reach my destination!
In an ideal world I would just love regen braking to offset the pads.
Any ideas?
