Do I really need motor cut brake levers?

[Neto]

New ebikes nowadays are not using brake sensors as motor cutoff. Instead they seems to look for initial cadence or speed to allow motor to run for safety. This set up resulted in delayed motor response during takeoff. It's difficult starting on a narrow path facing uphill.
Apart from the above, every known brands claim to have the most natural ride. There's too much fiddling in the electronics. Natural for me is when I push the pedal, the motor gives a proportional assist, no delay and accurate. Synonym to hi-fi in sound system.

 

[PCeBiker]

New ebikes nowadays are not using brake sensors as motor cutoff. Instead they seems to look for initial cadence or speed to allow motor to run for safety.

My brother-in-law's mid drive ebike has cadence and torque sensors, but no brake cut-off switches.

I think that's just fricken wrong !!
s*it always happens and things go wrong and hitting the brakes should ALWAYS kill the motor, just for safety reasons.

I'm thinking of hooking myself up to a kill switch for a SeaDoo in case I come off my e-bike.

 

[harryS]

In the eight years since I first replied to this question, I've had two cases of runaway throttle. There's three wires in your typical ebike throttle, and if the ground lead breaks, the controller goes to a high throttle mode. Not a big issue as I had brake cutoffs.

 

[Neto]

There are no Brose, Bosch, Shimano, or Yamaha powered bikes that use them for motor cutoff. If bikes with these motors have them, they are not wired or they are being used for brake lights.

Test ride them and they all have delayed assist on takeoff.

 

[Gionnirocket]

I like having the brake cut out and at times use them strategically to keep the motor off when I need to get 1 or 2 cranks in to keep from stalling and without having to adjust PAS down then back up in a quick maneuver... Like through a tight opening with straight aways before and after.

 

[PCeBiker]

In the eight years since I first replied to this question, I've had two cases of runaway throttle. There's three wires in your typical ebike throttle, and if the ground lead breaks, the controller goes to a high throttle mode. NO am issue as I had brake cutoffs.

I've made a bit of a discovery about that.
My first ebike came with a "proprietary" throttle that had a regular yellow 3-pin Julet connector, but the connector was female instead of male.
I ended up splicing the wires to install a twist throttle.

Then I realized that a throttle with a female Julet connector is for a mid drive motor.

A regular throttle with a 3-pin male Julet connector, for a typical BAFANG hub-drive motor, sends out ~1 volt on the sense wire with the throttle off, and the voltage increases to a maximum of ~4.1 volts at full throttle.

On a throttle with a female connector, the throttle sends out ~4.1 volts on the sense wire with the throttle off, then goes to ~1 volt at maximum throttle.
That way, if you loose your ground connection, the throttle goes to Zero throttle.

The regular throttle, where the voltage increases as you turn up the throttle, should register a throttle fault when the ground is disconnected by sending the voltage to 5 volts to register the fault, but the hal sensor circuitry prevents the voltage from going to 5 volts, so you get maximum throttle.


I'd link to my thread with pictures about it, but the search function isn't currently working.

 

[PCeBiker]

I like having the brake cut out and at times use them strategically to keep the motor off,..

I use it all the time when I'm riding.
I have my speed limited to 32 kph, and use a homemade "cruise control" to lock the throttle to any speed that I want.

When I'm coming to a stop, I'll grab the brake just enough to stop the motor, then grab more brake to stop the bike when I need to get fully stopped.

The throttle is off in the picture, and activates when the pointer hits the first line.
The spaces before the first line and after the second line are dead spots in the throttle movement.

The space between the lines is the active throttle area that work as a speedometer gage from 0-32 kph.


I set my throttle to whatever speed I want, then grab a brake to stop the motor.
When I release the brake, the e-bike goes back to the preset speed.

 

[PedalUma]

None of my bikes have cutout levers. And they all have torque sensors. I like pedaling under brake. It is like revving an engine before popping the clutch. The first thing kids do is remove the cutouts so they can modulate power wheelies. We have some Surrons in the shop. They are like multiplying Tribbles. On a test ride after a tune one lifted to 11 o-clock at power level 1 of nine with a quarter twist. That one has a 40Kw controller. The battery is 44 pounds.

 

[PCeBiker]

None of my bikes have cutout levers.

I think every ebike should have a quick and easy kill switch.
Pushing and holding the power button for 3 seconds just doesn't cut it.

And they all have torque sensors. I like pedaling under brake.
The first thing kids do is remove the cutouts so they can modulate power wheelies.

Remove just the rear cut-out switch.
One hand has to be on the grip if your other hand is doing all the modulating anyway.

We have some Surrons in the shop.
That one has a 40Kw controller. The battery is 44 pounds.

I don't care for power or speed anymore.
I attracted enough attention to myself this past year riding around no-hands .
I put on 3800 km in the gravel since May and at least 3000 of that was no-handed.

20 mph no-hands on gravel is challenging, fun, and fast enough, especially in a 10 mph cross-wind.

so they can modulate power wheelies.

I never could do wheelies.

My wheel will come off the ground if I pedal and gun it, but I've never tried to pull it up and balance on the back wheel.
Same with all my motorcycles and bicycles.
I could do wheelies on my skateboard though.

I hope Stephan can't do wheelies either because then I'd have to stop bugging him and posting pictures like this,..

 

[PedalUma]

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[fexixav]

I've made a bit of a discovery about that.
My first ebike came with a "proprietary" throttle that had a regular yellow 3-pin Julet connector, but the connector was female instead of male.
I ended up splicing the wires to install a twist throttle.

Then I realized that a throttle with a female Julet connector is for a mid drive motor.

A regular throttle with a 3-pin male Julet connector, for a typical BAFANG hub-drive motor, sends out ~1 volt on the sense wire with the throttle off, and the voltage increases to a maximum of ~4.1 volts at full throttle.

On a throttle with a female connector, the throttle sends out ~4.1 volts on the sense wire with the throttle off, then goes to ~1 volt at maximum throttle.
That way, if you loose your ground connection, the throttle goes to Zero throttle.

The regular throttle, where the voltage increases as you turn up the throttle, should register a throttle fault when the ground is disconnected by sending the voltage to 5 volts to register the fault, but the hal sensor circuitry prevents the voltage from going to 5 volts, so you get maximum throttle Cocktail Catering - Messe.


I'd link to my thread with pictures about it, but the search function isn't currently working.

To use Avid BB7 calipers with your Bafang Max drive bike, you may need motor cut-off levers for safety. The Avid FR7 levers should work, but they don't have motor cut-offs. You can find mountain bike levers with motor cut-off functionality, typically from brands like Magura or Shimano. Look for e-bike specific levers to ensure compatibility and safe operation.