Hi, I am liking my Kudos Cheetah immensely but one thing is bugging me: the minute I stop pedalling I get tremendous drag which slows the bike down immediately. This is making bike handling a little difficult as if I am hurtling along at 20 mph the minute I stop pedalling it's as if I have put the brakes on, not so clever if there's someone behind me. In fact I am getting so much "drag" that I can barely use the bike in non-pedal assist mode at all.... This does not occur on my other electric bike (Yamaha XPC26), which happily freewheels like any old pushbike, so, what am I doing wrong?
a bit of a drag
- Thread starter 12xu22
- Start date
does your tourer have v-brakes front and rear? the cheetah has some kind of hub brake on the rear, which I have not the slightest clue how to adjust, if needed. As has been stated a few times, although the Kudos guys could not be more helpful, they might consider employing someone to sit down and write some owner's manuals for their bikes... not too much to ask for when you could be forking out over a grand potentially.
actually, it may be the front wheel brake that's the problem, the wheel spins fine when the bike is raised off the ground but seems to be rubbing against the brake when I wheel the bike along. not helped by the fact that is slightly buckled ... some more tweaking required ... which raises the question, at what point does one need to get the bike serviced?
If you've got a rear drum brake similar to this, then it may be dragging.
Easy enough to check and adjust.
1) Make sure that the cable attached to the drum brake lever (see picture) isn't too tight.
The drum brake lever needs to be allowed to go back to its full resting position, when the handlebar brake lever is released.
Undo the locking nut on the drum brake lever, which attaches the cable to the lever. Make sure lever is fully at its resting position. Re-tighten the nut. Check brake to see if it stops the bike correctly.
2) There may be a screw adjustment on the rear of the assembly (you can just make it out in the picture, next to the green thing)
This allows you to adjust how close the brake shoes are in relation to the drum.
If it is screwed in too tight, then the shoes rub on the drum, even with the handlebar brake lever released.
Adjust and test so that the bike stops effectively.
Like any type of brake, you need to adjust and test for the best efficiency, without any binding or drag.
A word of warning, I have found these servo type drum brakes to be a bit too effective in the wet, which can cause skid inducing lock-ups
Therefore, adjusting for quick braking in the dry, may be a bit hairy in the wet weather
My rear brake's the same as that. It currently needs tightening up. Last week I went for a ride and the return trip was a bit scary as it had been raining and the brake got wet. It would start braking harshly with the slightest touch of the brake lever, with a lot of squealing. But when it's dry I've found the stopping power unsatisfactory. Last time I had it adjusted I was told the drum brake was not straight, indeed it is turned to one side.Like any type of brake, you need to adjust and test for the best efficiency, without any binding or drag.
A word of warning, I have found these servo type drum brakes to be a bit too effective in the wet, which can cause skid inducing lock-ups
Therefore, adjusting for quick braking in the dry, may be a bit hairy in the wet weather
How long do these sorts of brake last, and are they serviceable?
My bikes coverered around 1500 miles. When I took the servo brake off a few weeks ago, there was plenty of brake shoe material left on both shoes.
I had a problem with squealing many months ago, which started only after I had removed the rear wheel to fix a puncture.
The whole drum assembly pulls off in one piece. Where it slots onto the axle, next to the motor, is a large nut. This had unwound a little bit, meaning the brake assembly didn't fit on the axle in the correct place. At a slight angle like yours.
This caused bags of squealing and little to no braking.
A quick tighten up of this nut sorted it out
These are not drum brakes of course, they are roller brakes. They effectively last for ever and need no adjustment, but they do have a special grease within which can be topped up via a tiny hole in their side plate. This comes in suitable small tubes with application nozzles in two sizes which a dealer can order for you. The Shimano part numbers are:
Y-041 40020 for the 10 gram size
Y-041 20400 for the 100 gram size (more suited to dealer mechanic use)
The only other things to know is that can come with a large finned cooling disc and in either case are rated for 100 kg applications, two of them on a bike ok for 200 kg of bike and rider.
My mistake
The only reason I have been calling them drum brakes, is that they are uncannily similar to rear drum brakes on cars I have serviced in the past. Apart from cable operated and not hydraulic of course.
There's no grease hole on the Cyclamatic, and it looks effectively to be a no maintenance sealed unit.
Yes, they do look very similar, and of course bikes have had car type drum brakes in the past, but they have largely disappeared.
These newer brakes work by jamming rollers up narrowing ramps, so are all steel and very long lasting.
As far as I'm aware, these are only made by Shimano. The grease point is at the top, number 16 in this pic being it's plug:
These newer brakes work by jamming rollers up narrowing ramps, so are all steel and very long lasting.
As far as I'm aware, these are only made by Shimano. The grease point is at the top, number 16 in this pic being it's plug:
It may be total rubbish but move that magnet on the rear wheel out of the way and try again. That solved Jannies drag problem. It cannot hurt to try.
Steve
Steve
I took that off a hub gear page and some of the numbers are hub gear parts. Here's the appropriate page for the rear roller brake only with parts list below to explain the numbers:
Shimano Rear Roller Brake Unit
The legal speed control is set by a spoke mounted magnet on the wheel on these and some other e-bikes. It's wheel turn pass rate is read by a sensor in line with it and the feedback given to the power unit. You can just shift or remove the magnet so the sensor doesn't read it and limit the assist speed.
The magnet and it's pick-up sensor are similar in action to the bike speedo computer ones.
thanks for all the feedback, still got the problem, am intrigued by the magnet, especially since I can find no trace of it on my bike. What does it look like?
I am not sure if all bikes have this magnet on the back wheek, one of the more experienced guys will tell you.
But I have a Tonaro Enduro. Fastened to one of the spokes on the rear wheek is a magnet similar to what is used on some cycle computers. This magnet passes by a sensor fastened to the the bike frame and this regulates the speed.
Maybe yours is not fitted with one or is missing one. Someone will pipe up and tell you.
Steve
But I have a Tonaro Enduro. Fastened to one of the spokes on the rear wheek is a magnet similar to what is used on some cycle computers. This magnet passes by a sensor fastened to the the bike frame and this regulates the speed.
Maybe yours is not fitted with one or is missing one. Someone will pipe up and tell you.
Steve
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