Ride1Up LMT'D won't coast. Rear caliper position fix.

jimrbob69

New Member
This post is to correct bikes that will not glide well because of dragging rear brakes.

Our household owns 2 Lmt'd bikes I bought in November 2020, XR and ST. BOTH bike had dragging rear brakes...the rear wheels would only spin 2 complete revolutions on each when bike was tilted on kickstand and rear wheel was free of the ground and I the spun tire with my hand as hard as I could.

I originally thought it was because of the electric motor drag.

The brake disk was rubbing on the left pad and loosening the 2 allen bolts and repositioning the caliper wouldnt work because there was no room to center the pads between the brake disc. It always would rub the left pad. I had to find a way of centering the disk between the pads.

I had some THIN fenders washers (HALF THICKNESS OF REGULAR WASHERS) from home depot so I drilled open the hole and ground down the outside of the washer (not really necessary but looks a bit better).

First, loosen the 2 allen bolts that position the caliper and position the derailleur in the smallest gear sprocket.

Then I completely removed the axle nut and washer on the brake side and loosened the nut on the other, and put a crescent wrench on the axle to straighten it in the channel and dropped the wheel down 1 inch (otherwise it will not drop down because the axle is torqued and stuck in the axle channel).

I then removed the torque washer with the tab from the axle and then slipped on my thin washer followed by the torque washer. Now just reinstall rear wheel into frame (use crescent wrench to align axle flats to fit). Make sure the axle fits all the way into opening. Replace washer and nut. Tighten axle nuts. The brake disk is now more inboard of the caliper because of the washer and won't rub.

Squeeze the rear brake handle and tighten the bolts. Verify that the brake disk is now centered between the pads, if not reposition.

Now when I spin the rear tire with my hand as fast as I can, the rear wheel rotates around 20 revolutions instead of 2(count revolutions of wheel reflector).

I say it is fixed. It now glides like my non- electric bikes did. I originally thought the rear wheel only rotated 2 times because of the motor drag, WRONG.

I wonder, did anyone else have rear dragging brakes they could not adjust out?
 
Last edited:
This post is to correct bikes that will not glide well because of dragging rear brakes.

Our household owns 2 Lmt'd bikes I bought in November 2020, XR and ST. BOTH bike had dragging rear brakes...the rear wheels would only spin 2 complete revolutions on each when bike was tilted on kickstand and rear wheel was free of the ground and I the spun tire with my hand as hard as I could.

I originally thought it was because of the electric motor drag.

The brake disk was rubbing on the left pad and loosening the 2 allen bolts and repositioning the caliper wouldnt work because there was no room to center the pads between the brake disc. It always would rub the left pad. I had to find a way of centering the disk between the pads.

I had some THIN fenders washers (HALF THICKNESS OF REGULAR WASHERS) from home depot so I drilled open the hole and ground down the outside of the washer (not really necessary but looks a bit better).

First, loosen the 2 allen bolts that position the caliper and position the derailleur in the smallest gear sprocket.

Then I completely removed the axle nut and washer on the brake side and loosened the nut on the other, and put a crescent wrench on the axle to straighten it in the channel and dropped the wheel down 1 inch (otherwise it will not drop down because the axle is torqued and stuck in the axle channel).

I then removed the torque washer with the tab from the axle and then slipped on my thin washer followed by the torque washer. Now just reinstall rear wheel into frame (use crescent wrench to align axle flats to fit). Make sure the axle fits all the way into opening. Replace washer and nut. Tighten axle nuts. The brake disk is now more inboard of the caliper because of the washer and won't rub.

Squeeze the rear brake handle and tighten the bolts. Verify that the brake disk is now centered between the pads, if not reposition.T

Now when I spin the rear tire with my hand as fast as I can, the rear wheel rotates around 20 revolutions instead of 2(count revolutions of wheel reflector).

I say it is fixed. It now glides like my non- electric bikes did. I originally thought the rear wheel only rotated 2 times because of the motor drag, WRONG.

I wonder, did anyone else have rear dragging brakes they could not adjust out?
This post could be very helpful to me since my Lmt'd is expected to arrive in the next 2 weeks and during assembly this can be addressed right away before accessories make it more difficult. Great writeup, Thanks.
 
This post could be very helpful to me since my Lmt'd is expected to arrive in the next 2 weeks and during assembly this can be addressed right away before accessories make it more difficult. Great writeup, Thanks.
Since yours is probably a different batch hopefully you won't have problems. No one else has complained of this problem, but I bet there might be some more out there just like mine. The bike will run just fine with dragging brakes, only the glide will suffer, which is a real drag. You should be able to get by with a regular sized washer and then adjust the caliper position. Give it a try, if buying and drilling a thin fender washer is a hassle. Hopefully, all will be fine from the factory. If brakes are aligned and adjusted correctly your rear tire should spin15 to 20 times if you pull the wheel as hard as you can to spin it. Make sure all wheel axle nuts are tight, especially the rear. Lots of motor torque there. Make sure the pedal crank is also torqued. Good luck, the bike is a blast to ride.
 
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