Wisper 905SE Brake advice needed

[oregon]

Hi

Sorry if this has been covered before but I couldnt find an answer when i did a search.

I still have the original brakes on my wisper, which is now 12 months old.

I want to change both the front and rear brakes and was hoping for some advice as to which ones are recommended?

I seem to recall Avid BB07 disc brakes were the ones to get? Are these still available? And which rear brakes?

Also, I am aware the brake cables are terrible. Are goodridge cables any good? Please could you also say if there is a particular model of any these I should be purchasing? I don't want to buy an incompatible one!

Many many thanks for any help

Kameron

 

[Mussels]

I have the Goodridge and noticed an improvement after fitting them but you may have the wrong type of levers fitted, some of the old ones had levers for centre pull brakes. The new levers make a big improvement but for me it's still not powerful enough, I'm going to try the V-brake lever but with a longer lever fitted so I can apply more pressure.
People have fitted BB07 calipers but have not noticed an improvement, the original Promax caliper is also a BB caliper so I wouldn't expect a lot of improvement.
If you are going to spend money then it's not worth buying a cable operated brake, Avid Juicy 3 will be far better for £60. You will lose the cut out switch but if you are keeping the adequate rear brake then it won't matter much.

 

[oregon]

Thanks Mussels

What do you mean by levers? Sorry, I dont know much about bike parts. Do levers come with the goodridge brake cables? How do I know if I have centre pull brakes?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Mussels]

Thanks Mussels

What do you mean by levers? Sorry, I dont know much about bike parts. Do levers come with the goodridge brake cables? How do I know if I have centre pull brakes?

Thanks for your help!

Lets go with the basics, which 905 model do you have and when did you buy it?

The Goodridge cables are just the cables and outers, no brake lever included.

 

[oregon]

I have the 905SE Sport, which I purchased in July 2008 from TETS, London

 

[Straylight]

Well I have the 'City' version, and so can't comment o the disc brake, but found that swapping the v-brake calipers for 'Avid Single digit 5's, and the brake cables for Shimano (inners & outers) made the world of difference. If your brake levers on the handle bars are made by APSE, rather than Wuxing, then they're already the correct ones. If not, then maybe Norman at Wisper service may be able to help you out.

With regard to gaining knowlege of bicycle parts and what does what, there's an immense amount of information on the internet, in particular I've found that aside from this forum (and it's extremely helpful membership ) there's a veritable goldmine to be found here: Sheldon Brown-Bicycle Technical Information

 

[oregon]

Thanks for the link, that site is very informative.

I dont want to lose the cut-out switch. Should I be looking at specific types of brakes if I wish to keep this?

 

[Straylight]

This is the downside, you're pretty much restricted to the brake levers that Wisper supply, the rest of the braking system is made from standard parts. As I said, Wisper do stock the correct levers, and if you have the APSE ones, then there is no need to consider changing them.

I don't know much about the compatability of disc brakes, but with regard to the rear V-brakes, I'd say Avids are well worth a look. AFAIK, the fittings for v-brake calipers are standardised, so the world is your molusc with regard to those, with disc brakes, I'd have a look at the ones Mussells sugested, and then check out alternatives to those that have the same fitting requirements.

It's a shame that e-bikes don't have some sort of inline cut-out system to allow for a wider choice of brake lever, but development is still something of a work in progress, and I supose it wil be a long time before such tweak type refinements are the order of the day.

 

[oregon]

Thanks Straylight. But, how do I find out if I have APSE brake levers on my wisper? If I don't have them, should I go ahead and purchase them too?

Many thanks

 

[Straylight]

Mine have APSE printed on the black part, between the cable tension adjuster and the lever itself. The difference between these and the old Wuxing ones, as I understand it, is the physical amount of cable that they pull, hence the amount of braking force you're capable of applying to the wheel.

The reason people have changed the cables is to reduce the compression in the outer cable sheath, and so minimise the energy lost between the lever and the brake, if the sheath (outer cable) is not so rigid it acts as a spring to absorb the force you apply through the brake lever. There's also the stretchyness of the inner cable to consider, as the more give this has, the less energy is transfered.

Personally, I'd start with the cheapest bits first, being the cables and the brake pads, also have the cable tension set so the pads are as tight as possible without rubbing on the disc/wheel rim, as this will allow the maximum amount of cable movement to be translated into braking force.

 

[oregon]

Thanks Straylight. I will have a check when I get back home tomorrow.

Sorry for sounding a noob, but what does the actual break lever look like?

Kind regards

 

[Mussels]

It's the bit on the bars you squeeze when you want to stop.

 

[oregon]

Straylight - I have Wuxing printed on the brake levers. So, what do I have to do to get these changed?

At the moment, I plan to purchase the following, can you please let me know if they will be okay to fit on my 905se?

Goodridge Brake Cable Kit | Buy Online | ChainReactionCycles.com

Avid Juicy 3 2009 | Buy Online | ChainReactionCycles.com

rear brake: Avid Single Digit 7 2008 | Buy Online | ChainReactionCycles.com


If I fit the Avid Juicy 3 2009 disc brakes at the front (to replace the promax) will I lose the cut out switch?

Thanks so much for helping me out with all these questions

 

[Mussels]

To replace the Wuxing levers send Norman at Wisper an email, look up their service email address. You won't need to replace the rear brakes, the new lever will make a lot of difference. I have the new lever with the goodridge kit and the back brake works well.
The juicy brakes will replace the levers and cables as well so you would buy that in isolation, it does mean you won't have a cut off switch.
The goodridge kit will replace front and back cables of the Wisper but I'd wait until you are happy with the rest of the setup.
I'm still not happy with the front brake setup, the new levers are fashionably shorter and with the increased cable travel I can't pull it quite hard enough to stop fast. This isn't a problem on the models with a front v brake as they seem well matched. I've been speaking to David at Wisper about trying a longer lever with the correct amount of pull, I don't know how hard these will be to find with cutout switches.

 

[oregon]

Hi Mussels, thanks for your info. But, now I am really confused.

If I got the Juicy brakes, does that mean I no longer need to get the Wuxing levers replaced with the APSE levers (from wisper)? Are they better than the APSE?

Thanks

 

[Mussels]

The juicy brakes are hydraulic and come with their own levers and hose, the levers are integral to the brakes.
It's still worth getting an apse lever for the rear brake as it is probably all that is needed there.
Hydraulic brakes will mostly be better than any cable brake but more expensive, the juicy 3 performs well on a budget and is usually a better choice than an expensive cable caliper like the BB series.

 

[oregon]

OK, does that mean I will have 2 different levers? APSE for the rear and Juicy for the front?

 

[torrent99]

OK, does that mean I will have 2 different levers? APSE for the rear and Juicy for the front?

Yep. (oh and welcome to the unofficial London Wisper club ! )

Basically e-bike brake levers have a little microswitch in them to tell the motor to stop when you pull the lever, ordinary bike brake levers do not. So you are limited to brake levers from Wisper if you want to keep this feature (many do without it).

This limits your choice of brakes to cable operated disc brakes and v-brakes.

 

[oregon]

Cheers Torrent99, very glad to be a member!

OK, I think I am finally starting to understand..

At the moment, are there 2 cut-out switches? In the front and rear brake levers? If I put in a APSE rear brake lever (with goodridge cables) and Avid single digit rear brake - and avid juicy at the front - will I still have the cut-out switch for the rear working?

Thanks for your advice

 

[Mussels]

If you keep the apse lever on the rear brake then it will still switch the motor off if you need to stop in a hurry, I still doubt you will need to change the rear brake, better brake pads will probably be all you need.
If you work in the city then I can show you the new levers and what I have set up.