Brakes for RadRover Step-Thru

[cheese31]

I need new brakes for my RadRover Step-Thru. My budget is $500.00.

• I want more stopping power
• I want levers that sense when I'm pulling the brakes to cut-off electrical power to the motor
• I want low maintenance

I ride with lots of weight. I live in a super hilly/mountainous area.

The stock brakes just don't cut it. I needed to adjust them way too often. And recently they started failing. The front brakes stop working intermittently. This first happened when I was riding down a mountain. Thankfully my back breaks still worked so I could ride home. I haven't gone on a longer ride since. I miss riding my bike.

I plan to get them professionally installed.

I was looking at the TRP ZURICH HD-E810. But these brakes would require that I solder on some connectors. Though I think they are electrically compatible with my bike.

Also, I'm not sure how to find adapters. My rotors are 180 mm. The calipers screw into threaded holes that are 74mm apart. I think that means I have Post Mount. But I'm not sure how to find caliper adapters that would fit my bike so I could get bigger rotors.

 

[mrgold35]

I had the same issues with my stock brakes on my 16 Radrover when I started riding work commuting (up to 300lbs with riding gear, flat repair tools, winter riding gear, commuter backpack). I was reaching 24-26 mph on some downhill runs and had a few very noisy emergency stops from inattentive drivers doing rolling stops out of side streets. My stock pads were getting glazed over, noisy, longer stops, and constant adjustments.

The straw that broke the camel's back was the brake cable strands started breaking at the brakes and pull handle. The cable strands started to collect inside the brake handle and the brake stopped working and effected the motor cut-off.

I went with TRP Spyke Mechanical Post-Mount Caliper and Jagwire MTB brake cables. Pretty much plug-n-play, zero modifications needed to ebike, no more weekly brake adjustments, almost zero noise, still consistent and excellent braking after +2500 miles, and huge improvement in stopping power. The braking power of just one TRP brake is about the same as my stock brakes together at the time I replace them.

I also have a Radcity Step-Thru; but, my wife is more leisurely 10-12 mph weekend fun rider that +20 mph ebike work commuter. Not 100% sure if TRP Spyke+Jagwire would fit on the Radcity; but, the step-thru brakes look exactly the same as the stock ones on my rover.

$120 for TRP
$35 for Jagwire

 

[cheese31]

I went with TRP Spyke Mechanical Post-Mount Caliper and Jagwire MTB brake cables. Pretty much plug-n-play, zero modifications needed to ebike, no more weekly brake adjustments, almost zero noise, still consistent and excellent braking after +2500 miles, and huge improvement in stopping power. The braking power of just one TRP brake is about the same as my stock brakes together at the time I replace them.

I also have a Radcity Step-Thru; but, my wife is more leisurely 10-12 mph weekend fun rider that +20 mph ebike work commuter. Not 100% sure if TRP Spyke+Jagwire would fit on the Radcity; but, the step-thru brakes look exactly the same as the stock ones on my rover.

$120 for TRP
$35 for Jagwire

That braking setup sounds good. Those calipers + cables would be much easier to install than a hydraulic system. Plus, I like how those calipers clamp the rotor from both sides. Your description of the performance sounds highly desirable. Way more stopping power? No more weekly adjustments? And your cables are still holding up (not fraying)? That would cover everything I need.

The first problem I experienced was diminishing cable tension. I would need to mess with the barrel adjusters or re-connect the cable to the calipers. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to stop even when pulling the brake lever all the way to the handlebars. It seemed like a couple of times a week, I would need to fuss with the brakes so that there was enough tension. And all this maintenance caused the cable to start fraying at the caliper pinch bolts.

But the big problem, that scares me from riding, was something odd. The front brake lever lost all tension half-way through. So I could pull the lever. For the first half of the pull motion, I could feel some tension in the lever and the caliper would apply force to the rotor. But all tension disappeared suddenly when the lever was pulled more than halfway down. When the tension was gone, I could pull the lever all the way to the handlebars with no resistance. It made the front brake completely useless. It had no stopping power (literally none, it was like the cable wasn't there). However, the problem was intermittent. The brakes would work again if I released the lever and pulled it more gently.

Anyways, I think I might prefer your suggestion over the TRP ZURICH HD-E810. The HD-E810s cost more and they're more difficult to install.

 

[mrgold35]

I used the original Rad plastic front/rear cable covers and pulled out the old cable and inserted the new Jagwire. The rear cable was a little harder because the rad original brake cable had broken strands still inside the cable cover. The broken strands would sometimes get the entire cable stuck and had to work the cable back/forth to loosen it up. I couldn't find a firm answer on lubing or don't lube the new brake cable. I ended up using a dry Teflon and haven't had an issue so far (Finish Line Dry Teflon chain lube in red bottle). I also purchased blue Loctite for new calipers, bike cable cut/crimp tool, and brake cable end caps.

The only adjustment I make to the TRP brakes on my two Radrovers is with an Allen wrench to move the pads towards the rotor. It doesn't take much effort to move the pads in and I think they sometimes work themselves out in normal riding. You can feel when to need to adjusts them a 1/4 -3/4 turn by brake handle feel. I haven't had a need to adjust the Jagwire cable length at the brake handle or brake caliper at all for +2 years.

I purchased more brake pads for both ebikes with +2500 miles each with the TRP brakes (same pads that came with the original TRP calipers). The original pads look like they can go another 12-18 month more before I really need to change them out.

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

This is what the original brake cable looked like when I pulled it out. The top of cable was all bunched up inside of the brake handle and was acting like a spring making it harder to squeeze the handle and not disengaging the motor cut-off.

 

[clubby]

I had the same issues with my stock brakes on my 16 Radrover when I started riding work commuting (up to 300lbs with riding gear, flat repair tools, winter riding gear, commuter backpack). I was reaching 24-26 mph on some downhill runs and had a few very noisy emergency stops from inattentive drivers doing rolling stops out of side streets. My stock pads were getting glazed over, noisy, longer stops, and constant adjustments.

The straw that broke the camel's back was the brake cable strands started breaking at the brakes and pull handle. The cable strands started to collect inside the brake handle and the brake stopped working and effected the motor cut-off.

I went with TRP Spyke Mechanical Post-Mount Caliper and Jagwire MTB brake cables. Pretty much plug-n-play, zero modifications needed to ebike, no more weekly brake adjustments, almost zero noise, still consistent and excellent braking after +2500 miles, and huge improvement in stopping power. The braking power of just one TRP brake is about the same as my stock brakes together at the time I replace them.

I also have a Radcity Step-Thru; but, my wife is more leisurely 10-12 mph weekend fun rider that +20 mph ebike work commuter. Not 100% sure if TRP Spyke+Jagwire would fit on the Radcity; but, the step-thru brakes look exactly the same as the stock ones on my rover.

$120 for TRP
$35 for Jagwire

where did you buy the trp spyke brake calipers.

 

[rich c]

Only way to get low maintenance on eBike brakes is not to use them. You have to stop your weight plus bike weight, with 4 tiny little pads from 20mph or more. They are going to wear!

 

[mrgold35]

I check prices for the Jagwire and Spyke brakes from Amazon or Ebay. Just depends on which site has the cheaper price at the time. I like those sites because of the return policy and protection/support if there are any issues.