Brake upgrade for 2015 epik se
- Thread starter akakpaws
- Start date
Nova Haibike
Well-Known Member
Hydraulic brakes would be an upgrade, but hydraulic lines on a folding bike are not really a good idea. Are you having a problem with the brakes; how are you dissatisfied with them?
FlatSix911
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- USA
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- Silicon Valley
I would recommend a brake pad upgrade first... what model are your current brakes?
I guess it depends why you are asking - has the performance dropped off over the years, or you just want more stopping power ?
A swap of pads might help (old pads, contamination on current set-up ?)
As for the 'bigger is better' argument ..
The 2018 models got bigger brakes - 180mm versus what i believe are 160mm items on yours currently..
2015 : Zoom Mechanical Disc with 160 mm Rotors; Basic Suntour SR fork
2018: Tektro Aries Mechanical Disc with 180 mm Rotors; Tempo Parafit Spring Suspension, No Adjustments, 70 mm Travel
Might be worth calling e-joe support and asking about the details of a swap out, The Tektro Aries parts aren't expensive to buy, and 160-180mm adaptor plates are readily available. Of course there may be other 180mm options, you don;t have to follow ejoe's development.
A swap of pads might help (old pads, contamination on current set-up ?)
As for the 'bigger is better' argument ..
The 2018 models got bigger brakes - 180mm versus what i believe are 160mm items on yours currently..
2015 : Zoom Mechanical Disc with 160 mm Rotors; Basic Suntour SR fork
2018: Tektro Aries Mechanical Disc with 180 mm Rotors; Tempo Parafit Spring Suspension, No Adjustments, 70 mm Travel
Might be worth calling e-joe support and asking about the details of a swap out, The Tektro Aries parts aren't expensive to buy, and 160-180mm adaptor plates are readily available. Of course there may be other 180mm options, you don;t have to follow ejoe's development.
Zoom b320 on 2015 model se.
The rear brake on my 2015 se never really worked well. Since it was my first disc brake bike I think I may have ruined it trying to tweak it to work better.
Thanks for your response. Actually I may have ruined the rear brake because of my tweaking and having had limited experience with discs brakes In any case the pads are almost completely worn away so at the minimal I would need pads which I wouldn't mind getting a recommendation for those as well.
FlatSix911
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- USA
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- Silicon Valley
zoom b320 160 mm. Thanks.
The rear brake never worked well from the beginning. I tried to adjust them but may have made things worse because of my inexperience tweaking discs.
2015 epic se, zoom b320 brakes
FlatSix911
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- USA
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- Silicon Valley
Glad to help... let us know how things turn out. 
Well thanks to all of the great information I got here I have an update. I installed the Tektro caliper in place of the zoom and tweaked everything so that the brake now works Although I still get softness in The brake lever pull. This is the same problem I had with the zoom brake so apparently switching to The tektro caliper did not address that issue at all. Now I am planning to replace the pads on the zoom caliper and put that one back on and see how that works out. FYI the pads on the zoom I removed were quite worn. The fixed pad was below tolerance and so the rotor was almost impacting the body of the caliper. Looks like I got to it just in time. finding a good balance between the firmness of the brake lever action and the pad adjustments for the rear brake is proving to be a challenge. I have the front brake adjusted nicely and the lever pull and brake reaction is About right. thanks to the help of this forum I feel like I know enough about these brakes now to tackle most of the issues likely to come up. Thanks again to all who responded.Glad to help... let us know how things turn out.
Thanks for the info.
FS911, FYI the pads You suggested did not work on my zoom brake, they did not have the slot for the spring to fit into. I actually ordered them and had to return them. I really do appreciate your efforts in trying to help out however Ijust want to make sure the word gets out in case anyone else has a similar problem. Thanks again,
FlatSix911
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- USA
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- Silicon Valley
Sorry that I gave you a bum steer... can you post the correct pad info to help other EBR members?
No need to apologize, you were trying to help. The pads are I am using are by kool stop ( organic ) which I found on Amazon. Also the replacement pads for the avid BB5 brake will work and those are also available on Amazon. Again thanks for your help, I really appreciate it.Sorry that I gave you a bum steer... can you post the correct pad info to help other EBR members?
Generally speaking the brakes just aren't strong enough for me to feel safe on steep downhill rides. I have replace the pads and now I'm looking at increasing the rotor size.
Thanks Percy.
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