Delite GX (2018) Brake upgrade help.

[djsb]

My bike (Delite GX Rohloff 2018) has Shimano BR-M8000 front brakes. I have some really steep hill descents where I live that are challenging in the dry weather. I have to apply my brakes at the very beginning of the hill and keep the brakes on all the way down to make sure I can stop in time for a dangerous cross road. I don't trust the bike will stop in time in the wet weather on this particular hill.
Would M8020 brakes be a worthwhile upgrade to give me an extra margin of safety in wet weather? And would larger diameter discs be worth it? I'm assuming some kind of adaptor is required for fitting a larger disc. I think that I will avoid Maduro brakes as I here they are unreliable. Any advice welcome. Thanks.

 

[Zaphod]

Just curious. Why do you believe that you would have a problem stopping in wet weather? Have you had problems in the past?

There is another recent thread which talks about brakes. @Alaskan wrote that MTB riders he had spoken to all said upgrading from a 2-piston to a 4-piston caliper would not improve braking much. Upgrading the rotor to a larger size is the better way to go, I think. It reduces fade and dissipates heat better. I ride a 2019 Homage GX Rohloff with 180mm rotors (Magura brakes). I have not had any problems with downhill braking but I avoid riding in wet weather so I can't comment on that.

I am going to put a larger rotor on the front with different pads. I am keeping the 2-piston caliper (MT4). I just need to decide if I want to go to a 203mm or a 220mm rotor diameter. As you mentioned, a new adapter will be needed for the larger rotor.

 

[Alaskan]

I weigh 210 lbs. and live up a 14% grade hill in an area that gets lots of rain, so I had some concern that stock brakes would be adequate. I have a 2018 Delight Mountain with the BR -M8000 brakes. As a quick and easy enhancement, I put the 203mm Icetech rotor on the front and a 180 Icetech on the rear with Icetech pads all around. No more braking power but better heat dissipation for longer hills. This set up has always been perfectly adequate. Frankly so was the stock 180mm rotor but having an extra margin of safety gives me greater peace of mind. I also have a 2019 Homage Rohloff HS which has the Magura MT4 brakes, which have also been super reliable and always do the job. Again I put the 203 mm rotor on the front in this case.

The Achilles heel in wet weather is not the brakes it is the tires. I replaced the Rock Razor tires that came on the Homage in favor of Super Moto X. Knobby tires go up hill and around corners better on muddy trails but all-weather, more pavement oriented tires will stop better on wet pavement. Right now it has been raining and windy with wet leaves all over the road, not quite as dangerous as snow or ice but a real hazard. Be careful out there

 

[lerxst]

What are the highest end brakes available that fit on the 2018 Delite GX? Is it the set it comes with, or are there better?

 

[lerxst]

I ask because the brakes on my much cheaper Trek Police Electric work and feel much better. Maybe something is wrong with the brakes on my Delite, but I wanted to at least be aware of my upgrade options for the brakes on my Delite.

Literally no answers whatsoever on this forum? Seriously?

 

[steve mercier]

I ask because the brakes on my much cheaper Trek Police Electric work and feel much better. Maybe something is wrong with the brakes on my Delite, but I wanted to at least be aware of my upgrade options for the brakes on my Delite.

Literally no answers whatsoever on this forum? Seriously?

You can go to the 203 Ice Techs and try Kool-Stop organic finned pads. I did it and I am satisfied with the braking now.

 

[steve mercier]

I weigh 210 lbs. and live up a 14% grade hill in an area that gets lots of rain, so I had some concern that stock brakes would be adequate. I have a 2018 Delight Mountain with the BR -M8000 brakes. As a quick and easy enhancement, I put the 203mm Icetech rotor on the front and a 180 Icetech on the rear with Icetech pads all around. No more braking power but better heat dissipation for longer hills. This set up has always been perfectly adequate. Frankly so was the stock 180mm rotor but having an extra margin of safety gives me greater peace of mind. I also have a 2019 Homage Rohloff HS which has the Magura MT4 brakes, which have also been super reliable and always do the job. Again I put the 203 mm rotor on the front in this case.

The Achilles heel in wet weather is not the brakes it is the tires. I replaced the Rock Razor tires that came on the Homage in favor of Super Moto X. Knobby tires go up hill and around corners better on muddy trails but all-weather, more pavement oriented tires will stop better on wet pavement. Right now it has been raining and windy with wet leaves all over the road, not quite as dangerous as snow or ice but a real hazard. Be careful out there

View attachment 40159

There is no way I am putting my Super Moto X back on unless I move to Death Valley. The soft compound Magic Mary is my girl for all seasons.

 

[lerxst]

What about an improved rear brake disc for Rohloff bikes? On my BR-M8000 Delite Mountain Rohloff, the rear disc has only 4 mounting bolts... Only seeing 6 bolt Ice Tech rotors. Any suggestions?

 

[steve mercier]

That reminds me that the way the rear brake is attached to the frame could use some improvement on my Charger because there is some flex. if I lean the bike onto the kickstand and turn the pedal I will get brake rub. I think this is a weakeness in design. But to keep things in perspective this is a very minor issue.

 

[Alaskan]

What about an improved rear brake disc for Rohloff bikes? On my BR-M8000 Delite Mountain Rohloff, the rear disc has only 4 mounting bolts... Only seeing 6 bolt Ice Tech rotors. Any suggestions?

I had the local Trek shop install the 180mm icetech rotor in the rear. There is not adequate clearance foa 203mm rotor back there. The hub unitized all six machine screw holes on the rotor body. I installed the 203mm icetch rotor in front. It did require a different caliper mount that offsets the calipers sufficiently to accommodate the larger diameter rotor.

 

[lerxst]

I had the local Trek shop install the 180mm icetech rotor in the rear. There is not adequate clearance foa 203mm rotor back there. The hub unitized all six machine screw holes on the rotor body. I installed the 203mm icetch rotor in front. It did require a different caliper mount that offsets the calipers sufficiently to accommodate the larger diameter rotor.

For the front wheel, can you link the mount you used? I just ordered the 203mm rotor.

For the rear wheel, because I have the Rohloff hub, the brake disc mounts with only 4 bolts in a square configuration. All the Ice Tech rotors I can find have 6 bolts, even then 180mm one. So, unless I’m missing something, the Ice Tech won’t work back there, even the 180mm.

 

[Alaskan]

For the front wheel, can you link the mount you used? I just ordered the 203mm rotor.

For the rear wheel, because I have the Rohloff hub, the brake disc mounts with only 4 bolts in a square configuration. All the Ice Tech rotors I can find have 6 bolts, even then 180mm one. So, unless I’m missing something, the Ice Tech won’t work back there, even the 180mm.

Shimano F203P/P Disc Brake Adapter | Jenson USA

www.jensonusa.com

 

[lerxst]

Does anyone know if the stock brake pads are resin or metal? And does anyone prefer one over the other? I’m curious if the increased weight of an ebike vs non e-bike makes people lean towards the supposedly better stopping power of metal pads.

 

[steve mercier]

Does anyone know if the stock brake pads are resin or metal? And does anyone prefer one over the other? I’m curious if the increased weight of an ebike vs non e-bike makes people lean towards the supposedly better stopping power of metal pads.

I love the less expensive organic finned pads from Kool Stop!

 

[lerxst]

I had the 203mm Ice Tech rotor mentioned here installed and it emits a clicking sound in use that I find highly annoying. My LBS tried multiple rotors, bleeding, etc, and discovered that any rotor with a 2 piece design produces this clicking sound. Put in a one piece rotor and it’s back to being near silent in use. Has anyone encountered this before?

Is there a way to make the clicking stop with the 2 piece design? Or is there a one piece Ice Tech available? (If there is, I can’t find it).

 

[Alaskan]

I have the two piece aluminum and steel rotor on two bikes and have never had the clicking noise. Sounds like something was not fully tightened down to me.

 

[lerxst]

I have the two piece aluminum and steel rotor on two bikes and have never had the clicking noise. Sounds like something was not fully tightened down to me.

I watched him install all the rotors we tried. They were definitely tightened down. Additionally, the exact same sound was produced by multiple different two piece rotors.

 

[lerxst]

I forgot to mention but the clicking sound is only audible when braking from at least ~12MPH. And that the sound goes completely away when putting in a one piece rotor.

 

[steve mercier]

Hmmm...Can you get it to make that clicking without braking at all, but when leaning hard in cornering either or both ways?

 

[lerxst]

Hmmm...Can you get it to make that clicking without braking at all, but when leaning hard in cornering either or both ways?

I did try hard cornering when the rotor was on the bike (a smaller, one piece rotor is on now) and could not make it click. Always required at least some brake lever actuation to get it to click. The repetition rate of the click pulses is proportional to speed, too.