Magura MT5e front RCS brake

G

Guitartec

Active Member
Last year, I was riding my Juiced Ripcurrent S Fat ebike in the Green Mountains and quickly found out that my front Star Union 150PYD brake is simply not adequate for the type of riding I am doing. I do weigh in at about 240lbs, and when my RCS is fully loaded, it's up over 250. Even bleeding, adjusting and trying high quality ceramic and semi-metallic pads wasn't much help with the Star Union when going 50mph. Due to this, I need to find a better front brake system. After doing a ton of research, I just ordered the Magura MT5e with aluminum lever, a Magura 180mm MDR-C 2mm thick rotor and the Magura QM-40 mounting adaptor that mates the caliper to my MOZO Fatman air spring front fork.

Once narrowed down to Magura, I got some help from Jude over at Magura to find the correct parts for my bike. He was also kind enough to shorten the hydraulic line down to 33-1/4" for me so I didn't have to do it.

Now the big questions... Will this behemoth fit??? And does anyone have any experience installing a MT5e onto a Ripcurrent S or any experience just with Magura products in general? I know they make excellent motorcycle brakes, but that's from an entriely different industry with different demands.

UPDATE approximately May 20, 2020- So, does it fit???

YUP! It fits just fine. Install was pretty easy. There is some pad rubbing at first, but I broke-in the gray double 9.P performance brake pads by doing several hard slow-downs while going down hill. The MT5e modulates quite nicely with my 2-piston rear Star Union hydraulic brakes. This is a gi-normous improvement over the Star Union front brake.
 
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I have their e bike bakes and and man with 180 rotors they are pretty powerful. not sure if I would need the 4 piston though I would like to use less fingers to brake. but they are easy to change the pads without removing the wheel.
 
Guitartec said:
Last year, I was riding my RCS in the Green Mountains and quickly found out that the the Star Union 150PYD brakes are simply not adequate for the type of riding I am doing. Plus, I weigh in at about 240lbs, and when my bike is fully loaded, it's up over 250. Even bleeding, adjusting and trying high quality ceramic and semi-metallic pads wasn't much help with the Star Unions when going 50mph. Due to this, I need to find a better front brake system. Long story short, I just ordered the Magura MT5e with aluminum lever, a Magura 180mm MDR-C 2mm thick rotor an the QM-40 mounting adaptor.

I got a lot of help from Jude over at Magura to find the right parts and they are kind enough to shorten the hydraulic line down to 33-1/4" for me so I don't have to do it.

Now the big questions... Will it fit??? And does anyone have any experience installing a MT5e onto a Ripcurrent S or any experience just with Magura products in general? I know they make excellent brakes, but that's from the motorcycle world I also live in. I'll keep this thread posted about the fitment. Should be here in a few weeks.
Click to expand...

5/22/2020- Well, here it is a few weeks after I installed the front Magura brake system. I know when people buy stuff, they tend to be over excited about their wise decision and are dying to tell everyone. I promise I'm not touting my "wise decision" here, but when I say HOLY POOP, it may not sound like it. Sorry bout that.

The Magura is a much improved brake system over the Star Union. It only took a few minutes to remove the Star Union and install the Magura on the front of my RCS. I torqued everything as close as I could to spec without exceeding torque specs for my carbon fiber handle bars.

I also had to cut the Magura motor cutoff wire and the screw-on Higo motor cutoff wire and connector from the Star Union and splice it into the Magura.

BTW, you need to know if the RCS uses a normally open or normally closed motor cutoff switch when ordering new brakes. IT'S NORMALLY OPEN on the RCS. Magura is a German company and oddly calls normally open "Higo Closer". If it were normally closed, it would be called "Higo Opener". Go figure. "Higo" is the type of push-together connector currently used on all Juiced and many other ebikes. Juiced oddly uses screw-together Higo connectors. Very weird!

A few things I want to say are the 4-piston works nicely with my rear 2-piston Star Union brake. Modulation is excellent between the two and I've experienced no fade as of yet, but I have not taxed the brakes down a big hill or mountain yet.

The only thing I don't like about the Magura is not that big of a deal and may never even be a problem at all... With most ebike brakes, like the Star Union for instance, the motor cut-off switch's wire is connected to the body of the hand brake where the reservoir is, so it does not move when you apply the brake. With the Magura, the wire is attached to the brake's lever itself and moves everytime the brake is applied. Wires and movement= trouble if ya ask me, but luckily it just a simple 2-conductor wire which can easily be fixed if need be.
 
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Magura MT5s came stock on my eMTB. They have a bit more of a 'squishy' feel compared to my other set of Tektro Hydraulic brakes. I also had to bleed them from the get go due to excessive lever travel coming too close to the hand grips. Other than that, I have no complaints. They are 4 piston front/back and have excellent stopping power and handling. I also reached out to Magura USA for a stripped EBT screw located on the reservoir and they sent me an entire lever and bleed kit, no questions asked. Excellent C/S IMHO.
 
bob armani said:
Magura MT5s came stock on my eMTB. They have a bit more of a 'squishy' feel compared to my other set of Tektro Hydraulic brakes. I also had to bleed them from the get go due to excessive lever travel coming too close to the hand grips. Other than that, I have no complaints. They are 4 piston front/back and have excellent stopping power and handling. I also reached out to Magura USA for a stripped EBT screw located on the reservoir and they sent me an entire lever and bleed kit, no questions asked. Excellent C/S IMHO.
Click to expand...

That's excellent to hear. Like many people, I vest myself into the companies I buy from and hope and prey they're not jerks (or turn into jerks) when it comes to c/s. Hearing this from you bodes very well for Magura imho. BTW, The Weber Grill people are like that too. One of the best companies I ever worked with.
 
Guitartec said:
That's excellent to hear. Like many people, I vest myself into the companies I buy from and hope and prey they're not jerks (or turn into jerks) when it comes to c/s. Hearing this from you bodes very well for Magura imho. BTW, The Weber Grill people are like that too. One of the best companies I ever worked with.
Click to expand...
Okay sounds great! I like Weber products and still have the very well made Smokey Joe grills with the wooden handles opposed to plastic. They last forever with a little TLC. In addition, I received a Weber "Q" series gas grill and it's a joy to have for quick cooking in a flash. The legs on the SJ grill wore out and Weber put a new set in the mail for me. Nothing like great C/S!
 
barbe said:
Hello magura ebikers!
I have a question for you : which one of you can tell me what is the intern part of this red connector?
Are there 3 pins?(Link Removed - Attachment No Longer Exists)(Link Removed - Attachment No Longer Exists)
Click to expand...

I cannot open your attachment, but I presume you you're talking about the motor cut-off switch's Higo connector, which is 2 pins inside.
 
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Yes guitartec, my attachment failed. I try another : magura.PNG
 
And is this Higo connector suitable for those of engine bafang BBS01B? It looks like yes, but im not so sure...
 
barbe said:
Yes guitartec, my attachment failed. I try another :View attachment 58950


Barbe, it's a 3-pin Higo motor cut-off connector. I have a Youtube video (link above) that talks about this in the description.

THE MOTOR CUT-OFF SWITCH (with red Higo male connector)...

The first thing to know is that ebikes often come with either a Normally Open motor cut-off switch OR a Normally Closed motor cut-off switch- it is not standardized, so you'll need to ask the bike or brake manufacturer or physically check it with a multi meter. The switch is built into the brake lever assembly and instantly cuts power to the motor when the brake is applied.

While studying the Magura MT5e brake system on the Magura site to see if it would fit my bike, I kept seeing the words "CLOSER" and "OPENER" along with the acronyms NO and NC in the description and instructions.

"Normally Open (NO)" and "Normally Closed (NC)" are regular electrical industry American terms when talking about different types of electrical switches, however, Closer and Opener are not familiar to me, but I'm no electrical expert.

So... "CLOSER" means that the motor cut-off switch in the brake lever is Normlly Open electrically (NO). "OPENER' means the switch is normally closed electrically (NC). This is not explained very well on their site, but so aren't a lot of things. Maybe it's from when the descriptions on the German Magura site were translated to English. Who knows.

The Juiced Ripcurrent uses a normally open (CLOSER) switch. This was checked using continuity through a multi meter. Plus, it worked perfectly on my RCS. Make sure you get the correct Opener or Closer Magura lever switch for your application. Oh and PS... Magura uses a magnetic reed switch in case you were wondering.
Click to expand...
 
barbe said:
And is this Higo connector suitable for those of engine bafang BBS01B? It looks like yes, but im not so sure...
Click to expand...

The bike's controller (ECU) determines what connector is used for motor cut-off, not the motor. Maybe you should ask the people you got the bike or the controller from. And you should also ask them if you need a NO or NC brake switch.
 
IMG_0083.jpg
green for display, 2 yellow for brakes and one yellow for throttle. That's my controller outer cables.
For NO and NC, idk.
But I know that the 2 yellow are the ones that can fit magura lever.
 
barbe said:
View attachment 58968
green for display, 2 yellow for brakes and one yellow for throttle. That's my controller outer cables.
For NO and NC, idk.
But I know that the 2 yellow are the ones that can fit magura lever.
Click to expand...
Ok, follow closely....
Do you happen to have your old brake levers that plugged into the yellow connectors? If so, you'll need to check them for NO or NC using a multimeter with continuity (or find someone who can determine NO or NC with continuity).

Or... if you don't have any brakes b/c you're building a bike from scratch, you'll need to ask Magura to send you the appropriate brake for your controller OR if it's a Bafang controller, see if Bafang will tell you if you need NO or NC.



My guess is you need NO, but if you get your Magura brakes installed, turn on your bike and it doesn't move, but unplugging the brakes makes it work fine, then you got the wrong switches in your brakes.
 
I have this result : if I don't touch the lever, nothing to read on my multimeter. If I touch (push I think) the lever the multimeter shows continuity.
So it's NO ?
 
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