3 Cycling shops refuse to work on disc brakes of electric bike due to motor size???

[marzjennings]

Rim brakes in 350w ebike. I don't think so unless you have a death wish.

Rim brakes work fine for my non-ebike and +120kg rider and bike combined mass when riding at 25mph or about 350w.

 

[rogerzilla]

Palm trees?

It was the closest I could find to the pungent herb that permeates the whole town. Although the couriers are possibly delivering harder stuff. It could be the new town motto: "Swindon: makes you want to smoke crack".

 

[Oldhippy]

It was the closest I could find to the pungent herb that permeates the whole town. Although the couriers are possibly delivering harder stuff. It could be the new town motto: "Swindon: makes you want to smoke crack".

Sorry couldn't resist.

 

[T4tomo]

My wife rides an e-bike. She is an ex-professional dancer (and still looks the part) who has moved over to teaching fitness (pilates, zumba, and bar fusion). An e-bike allows her to ride with me (although at her pace) without putting additional strain on her already battered body.

To clarify, I just said fatties are more likely to be on an ebike and added a . There are of course many svelte and lovely people on ebikes and on regular bikes to which no offense was meant. It was a flippant comment after making the point that an ebike doesnt need any special brakes over a normal bikes

 

[bonzobanana]

A bloke I see quite regular on the same cycling route explained the issue today.

He has an electric bike that needs the disc pads changing or adjusting, as the brakes are not too good. He has contacted 3 cycle shops and been told that they are not allowed to work on his bike because it has a 350 watt motor. They explained that the cycle is classed as a moped, and they cannot legally work on it.

This seems odd to me. Surely, if a person is competent in this sort of thing, that is all that matters. What do others think?

I think the only ebike motors that are actually 250W or less as maximum power is the very cheap 20" ebikes which probably have a nominal power of only about 180W for their motor or less. Most ebikes on the British market have motors capable of 350W or more and are restricted to 250W by the controllers and can often be unrestricted to their full power. This 250W motor legal situation is a bit of a farce as its the controller that restricts the motor. In fact mid-drive motors like the Bosch units have the highest peak power of over 700W but are legally sold. The same ebikes are sold as 350W or more in other markets without the software power restriction.

I agree with the cycle shops not working on such bikes but if the bikes are configured as legal ebikes with a 15.5mph maximum powered speed what is the difference to the complete ebikes they sell and would they not work on the brakes on ebikes they sell that have been de-restricted.

if you have a ebike with a direct drive motor hub with regen braking often you don't even use the normal brakes unless in emergency braking situations. The regen braking is sufficient for most situations and just slowing for junctions etc and they work in all weather conditions so its important not to class all ebikes the same as some types of ebikes have enhanced no maintenance braking that not only eliminate wear on your brake pads but give a slight recharge to the battery at the same time.

 

[matticus]

I agree with the cycle shops not working on such bikes but if the bikes are configured as legal ebikes with a 15.5mph maximum powered speed what is the difference to the complete ebikes they sell and would they not work on the brakes on ebikes they sell that have been de-restricted.

Perhaps they don't sell de-restricted bikes?

 

[Ridgeway]

Don’t all Bosch CX Performance motors reach 350w in eMTB mode anyway ?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Palm trees?

If that’s what you smoke. Popular at Easter I hear.

 

[Ridgeway]

If that’s what you smoke. Popular at Easter I hear.

Think that’s Psalm tress

 

[Ajax Bay]

How does your combined weight compare to an e-bike + rider though? Where brakes are concerned it is more about momentum than power.

Where brakes are concerned it's not about momentum (m * v): it's about kinetic energy (1/2 m * v^2). So combined mass matters more but speed matters ^2. Please say if I have that wrong.

 

[Tenkaykev]

I wouldn't know
Although it seemed to be National Weed Day round here yesterday as almost everyone I passed or car which passed me while cycling yesterday ponged of dope!

They have all the Deliveroo gubbins round here

I did wonder about this. I’m familiar with the smell of “ Moroccan Woodbines” but on a few occasions recently I’ve been ambling along a trailway and caught a whiff of what smelled like cannabis. Is there a non narcotic plant / herb with a similar smell?

 

[Mr Celine]

How does your combined weight compare to an e-bike + rider though? Where brakes are concerned it is more about momentum than power.

It's more about kinetic energy than momentum.
1/2 mv squared, not mv

 

[Mr Celine]

TNM to @Ajax Bay

 

[vickster]

I did wonder about this. I’m familiar with the smell of “ Moroccan Woodbines” but on a few occasions recently I’ve been ambling along a trailway and caught a whiff of what smelled like cannabis. Is there a non narcotic plant / herb with a similar smell?

No just everyone smokes cannabis outside now!

 

[bonzobanana]

Perhaps they don't sell de-restricted bikes?

People de-restrict them themselves often its just a accessing secret menu's using special key combinations others might need a usb dongle to get in and de-restrict the bike. My point is would they check for the legality of such bikes before fixing their brakes?