Great upgrade from Big Game Bikes! I tried out the “Assembly Required” set from them for my Rover (lines and reservoirs filled with screw caps holding fluid). Allowed me to run the cables through the frame and then remove the caps and screw them together, no bleeding required - was very helpful to have them prefilled and ready to go, made the install nice and easy. Added a front 203mm rotor and now the braking is great. Huge improvement and totally worth the purchase.
The reservoir also has space for a few air bubbles to accumulate, so upside-down they won't have that function, and any air could affect braking performance. You'll be fine for a while, but you'll eventually need to swap sides or swap the hoses and bleed them.
I just bought the assembly required brake set from Big Game Bikes. They come prefilled, all you have to do is connect the brake pipe to the lever. 3000km later no problems and you can have the lever any side you want right way up!
I'm considering doing this to my older HT Stump Jumper, still has pull brakes (squeeze pads) it does have mounts for disc. Great video. 👍🏽 BTW, motorcycles have clutch on left and front brake on right. Rear break is actually on the right side, but foot pedal. And left foot side has the transmission gear selector. Keep them rolling
To get even more fast braking a trick is to pedal as you brake. I do this coming off of bridges in NY that have long straightways and I'm carrying a lot of speed when carrying a lot of cargo. It's counter-intuitive but you shed speed a lot faster this way.
I am trying to decide whether to go with a full hydraulic kit fir 180mm rotors, or hybrid cable actuated hydraulic calipers. The latter are super easy/quick, but only provide half the benefit. Technically if you can lock up the wheel, and have SOME modulation, this won't shorten braking DISTANCE - but feel should be improved, hopefully enough to be worth the effort.
I installed these same brakes on my RR5 and mounted them upside down as well. Seems to work fine but was pretty disappointed that they came this way as there was no mention of this on the Big Game website. Only downside so far is it’s a huge PIA to bleed them.
That's great! With my Radrover 5, whenever I put new brake pads in, I can't get rid of the squeak. I adjust them, the noise goes away for awhile and then comes back. Ugh! If anyone has any advise, please let me know. Nice upgrade. You surely needed it. I'm hesitant to do it because it looks like you have to take the hand grips off. Mine are on really tight and I don't think I want to mess with them.
If you take a thin screwdriver and put it in between the grip and the handlebar then hit it with a quick squirt of WD-40 that grip will slide right off in 2 seconds. I've been changing out my leather grips to grips that have the locking rings they are so much more convenient
Any time new pads/rotors installed, it's good practice to clean both surfaces with isopropyl alcohol and wipe them down. This will remove any oils and contaminants. Changing the pads without cleaning the rotors is pointless. You will just be contaminating a brand new set of pads. Of course a bedding in process will have to take place before the first proper ride. Just find a gradual slope that has run off area and free from pedestrians or cars. Pump the levers then release. It is a hard consistant action then release. Not just a long light rubbing and riding of the pads. Repeat a few times. The aim is to rebuild the thin layer of brake material back onto the now contamination free rotors. Practise good habits when riding, don't touch the rotors with bare hands the oils from your fingers is enough to cause problems. Always cover the rotors when using oils/lubricant wd40 etc. Never use old cloths to clean rotors.
Fantastic new 50% bike-cave/wife-cave Mr C.C. Awesome! after 8 months of searching you finally took the leap and purchased much needed hydraulic brakes. Even though they aren't the 4 piston you hinted at, it's at least full hydraulics. Gone are those caveman-like cable brakes, such a horrible old tech relic on such a modern and fast 3.0 beast. Just an opinion here though, installing the levers opposite to what they were intended is not a long term solution. The oil reservoir that is designed to capture and localised any air entering the system is now incapable to do so. Over time this will lead to air circulating around the system making it's way to both pistons, on either the lever end or the caliper end. This will result in spongy lever feel, longer lever pull until engagement, less ability to modulate and even total loss of clamping force. Usually when ordering look for the initialls, you have the option of (for USA market) LF (left=front) & RR (Right=rear) or vise versa (for EU Asia/Aus). But sometimes it's in really small print. Another issue is when it's time to replenish or bleed the brakes. Oh boy is it going to be a hassle. Do-able but hassle. Stay safe out there Mr C.C. look forward to the next episode.
Always good to have hydraulic brakes on such a fast bike. Kinda seems like having to deal with upside down levers for all future fluid checks, fills, and bleeds is more cumulative hassle than the initial convenience boost of the "plug and play" system over the long term though. Didn't see the brand of brakes mentioned in the video. Checked the link and the seller didn't mention it either. Any info on who makes the brakes? Do they have replacement levers available if you break one? You can get levers for Tektro and Shimano. Magura sells replacement levers but they cost almost as much as the brake set. I guess it just seems like no name $140 hydraulic brakes turned upside down leave a lot to be desired vs a $170 pair of E350 Tektros. You seem to love the bike. What you did was better than nothing but brakes mighta been the good place to show that love by doing it right.
Agreed, full hydraulics are the way to go. Especially on a bike capable of exceeding 35mph. Upside down installation will become an issue though. Not only the difficulty in replenishing, bleeding or servicing the brakes, but over time air entering the system will not be captured and localised as designed in the reservoir. Eventually leading to spongy long lever action inefficient braking. Was hoping to see the 4 piston he hinted to in earlier vids. That would do such a fast heavy bike justice. But hey, after 8 months looking, any hydraulics, even upside down are better than those caveman like cable operated relics, right?
@@chinguyen8778 Good point. Any air in system will not be at top of reservoir and will instead head straight to the piston for injection into the brake line.
Great upgrade! I need this for my Magicycle and my Lectric 2.0. Where do you get brake pads for it? Are they standard pads and you can get them anywhere or are the pads brake specific?
Yes, it is a great upgrade. Any idea which brake brand these are based on? Tektro? I ask because if you cut the hose to custom fit and/or when you bleed you'll need the right bleeding kit. Also, brake pads. I installed the 4 piston hydraulics from XOD but I'm not sure about the accessories. I think it is Tektro.
Hey Citizen do you know if a Rad rover5 battery can be repaired? I’m getting only 25 volts on a fully charged battery! It won’t power up, nothing works on the bike! 🤷♂️ From Northwestern Vermont
Hey Darcy I definitely don't know much about battery repair. I guess first question is the battery still under warranty? If not You may have to try to find a local lithium battery builder to fix it or worst case scenario order a whole new battery. If you have to order a whole new battery at least you could get one with more capacity.
@@CitizenCycle925 unfortunately the battery isn’t under warranty. I’ve had the bike two years now, I’m going to call Rad tomorrow to see what they say? Thanks for responding and keep up the good work! ✌️
Mechanical brake lever upside down, no problem. Hydraulic brake lever upside down, you'll have to remove the levers from the bars when it comes bleeding time.
It's possible to swap the levers. You need a fresh set of hydraulic parts called the pearl and barb. This videos explains the process: ua-cam.com/video/z5qIrpGR3yY/v-deo.html The catch is that you would need to bleed the brake lines after swapping. But it's super easy to do a lever bleed (as opposed to a full bleed) if you buy one of those bleed kits with all the yellow parts on Amazon: ua-cam.com/video/EBvbwvLEwio/v-deo.html Fireyouracing Mountain Bike Hydraulic Disc Brake DOT Mineral Oil Bleed Kit for AVID Formula Hanyes Echo Shimano Tekro HS33 Magura Nutt (Normally Combination) a.co/d/e2Gt3KG You'll need some fresh fluid to feed into the brakes too: BIKEIN PRO MTB Bike Brake Oil Mineral Oil for Shimano Brake System Hydraulic Oils a.co/d/4JZiXQP You can also buy the same brake calipers from AliExpress and specify how the calipers come built. It's also possible to buy them with the levers not attached yet and combine them as needed to go back or front, which is what I did. I got my brakes from AliExpress for a lot cheaper than what you paid Citizen. I only paid $75 including shipping, but I did have to wait a few weeks. The model I searched for and got which are the same in this video are the "XOD XD-E500" brakes. I did a write up of the process in this reddit post: www.reddit.com/r/RadPowerBikes/comments/pllxqm/
" no installation necessary " " plug and play " 😂😆🤣 So you just open the box ,stand back and the brakes magically appear on your bike . Shameless click bait
Great upgrade from Big Game Bikes! I tried out the “Assembly Required” set from them for my Rover (lines and reservoirs filled with screw caps holding fluid). Allowed me to run the cables through the frame and then remove the caps and screw them together, no bleeding required - was very helpful to have them prefilled and ready to go, made the install nice and easy. Added a front 203mm rotor and now the braking is great. Huge improvement and totally worth the purchase.
I was thinking of adding 203 rotors as well can you tell me which ones you purchased and did they come with a special adapter for correct fitment?
The reservoir also has space for a few air bubbles to accumulate, so upside-down they won't have that function, and any air could affect braking performance. You'll be fine for a while, but you'll eventually need to swap sides or swap the hoses and bleed them.
Altema22 You may be my most knowledgeable commenter 😁
This is the best ebike never seen 👍💯
I just bought the assembly required brake set from Big Game Bikes. They come prefilled, all you have to do is connect the brake pipe to the lever. 3000km later no problems and you can have the lever any side you want right way up!
Maybe it's easy to just disconnect mine and switch them then. . I'll have to look into it 😁
@@CitizenCycle925 May be an idea to contact Gareth @ Big Game Bikes. At 37 mph you want to make sure your brakes are in optimum condition!!
that's what I love about your channel your a average guy just trying to get it done. man that bike makes my hair stand up 😅 crazy beast love it
okay that's sick you officially have the best Rad Rover in the world
Thanks!! She's a beaut Clark 😁
well done! and i like your Jimi Hendrix upside down lever mounting! 🙂🎸
Awesome video as always. I just installed full hydraulic brakes on my magicycle bike. Night and day difference
Yes the original magicycle brakes weren't the greatest, going hydraulic would be huge upgrade for that bike
I'm considering doing this to my older HT Stump Jumper, still has pull brakes (squeeze pads) it does have mounts for disc. Great video. 👍🏽
BTW, motorcycles have clutch on left and front brake on right. Rear break is actually on the right side, but foot pedal. And left foot side has the transmission gear selector. Keep them rolling
To get even more fast braking a trick is to pedal as you brake. I do this coming off of bridges in NY that have long straightways and I'm carrying a lot of speed when carrying a lot of cargo. It's counter-intuitive but you shed speed a lot faster this way.
I am trying to decide whether to go with a full hydraulic kit fir 180mm rotors, or hybrid cable actuated hydraulic calipers. The latter are super easy/quick, but only provide half the benefit. Technically if you can lock up the wheel, and have SOME modulation, this won't shorten braking DISTANCE - but feel should be improved, hopefully enough to be worth the effort.
I installed these same brakes on my RR5 and mounted them upside down as well. Seems to work fine but was pretty disappointed that they came this way as there was no mention of this on the Big Game website. Only downside so far is it’s a huge PIA to bleed them.
BGB is a UK based company and over here we have the front brake on the correct side, the same as a motorcycle. 😉😉
Nice upgrade 👍
Wow I couldn't imagine how loud that bike would be in person because I could hang with the audio on my phone I had to drop my volume all the way down
That's great! With my Radrover 5, whenever I put new brake pads in, I can't get rid of the squeak. I adjust them, the noise goes away for awhile and then comes back. Ugh! If anyone has any advise, please let me know. Nice upgrade. You surely needed it. I'm hesitant to do it because it looks like you have to take the hand grips off. Mine are on really tight and I don't think I want to mess with them.
If you take a thin screwdriver and put it in between the grip and the handlebar then hit it with a quick squirt of WD-40 that grip will slide right off in 2 seconds. I've been changing out my leather grips to grips that have the locking rings they are so much more convenient
Rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) also works well for grip removal and installation.
Any time new pads/rotors installed, it's good practice to clean both surfaces with isopropyl alcohol and wipe them down. This will remove any oils and contaminants. Changing the pads without cleaning the rotors is pointless. You will just be contaminating a brand new set of pads. Of course a bedding in process will have to take place before the first proper ride. Just find a gradual slope that has run off area and free from pedestrians or cars. Pump the levers then release. It is a hard consistant action then release. Not just a long light rubbing and riding of the pads. Repeat a few times. The aim is to rebuild the thin layer of brake material back onto the now contamination free rotors. Practise good habits when riding, don't touch the rotors with bare hands the oils from your fingers is enough to cause problems. Always cover the rotors when using oils/lubricant wd40 etc. Never use old cloths to clean rotors.
@@chinguyen8778 Thank you!
@@CitizenCycle925 Thanks!
Wow you got some really smooth roads to drive on. Not like where I live. All pot holes and cracks.
Fantastic new 50% bike-cave/wife-cave Mr C.C. Awesome! after 8 months of searching you finally took the leap and purchased much needed hydraulic brakes. Even though they aren't the 4 piston you hinted at, it's at least full hydraulics. Gone are those caveman-like cable brakes, such a horrible old tech relic on such a modern and fast 3.0 beast. Just an opinion here though, installing the levers opposite to what they were intended is not a long term solution. The oil reservoir that is designed to capture and localised any air entering the system is now incapable to do so. Over time this will lead to air circulating around the system making it's way to both pistons, on either the lever end or the caliper end. This will result in spongy lever feel, longer lever pull until engagement, less ability to modulate and even total loss of clamping force. Usually when ordering look for the initialls, you have the option of (for USA market) LF (left=front) & RR (Right=rear) or vise versa (for EU Asia/Aus). But sometimes it's in really small print. Another issue is when it's time to replenish or bleed the brakes. Oh boy is it going to be a hassle. Do-able but hassle. Stay safe out there Mr C.C. look forward to the next episode.
This one's going in the 'Save' file. Thanks, CC
Always good to have hydraulic brakes on such a fast bike. Kinda seems like having to deal with upside down levers for all future fluid checks, fills, and bleeds is more cumulative hassle than the initial convenience boost of the "plug and play" system over the long term though. Didn't see the brand of brakes mentioned in the video. Checked the link and the seller didn't mention it either. Any info on who makes the brakes? Do they have replacement levers available if you break one? You can get levers for Tektro and Shimano. Magura sells replacement levers but they cost almost as much as the brake set. I guess it just seems like no name $140 hydraulic brakes turned upside down leave a lot to be desired vs a $170 pair of E350 Tektros. You seem to love the bike. What you did was better than nothing but brakes mighta been the good place to show that love by doing it right.
Agreed, full hydraulics are the way to go. Especially on a bike capable of exceeding 35mph. Upside down installation will become an issue though. Not only the difficulty in replenishing, bleeding or servicing the brakes, but over time air entering the system will not be captured and localised as designed in the reservoir. Eventually leading to spongy long lever action inefficient braking. Was hoping to see the 4 piston he hinted to in earlier vids. That would do such a fast heavy bike justice. But hey, after 8 months looking, any hydraulics, even upside down are better than those caveman like cable operated relics, right?
@@chinguyen8778 Good point. Any air in system will not be at top of reservoir and will instead head straight to the piston for injection into the brake line.
I can confirm in the uk we have breaks the other way round
Radrover doesn't offer simple adapters to mount quality brakes like Shimano or SRAM?
Great upgrade! I need this for my Magicycle and my Lectric 2.0. Where do you get brake pads for it? Are they standard pads and you can get them anywhere or are the pads brake specific?
I did not remove the pads to look and see what style they are next time I have them off I'll check.
It's safer to have the front on the right, thats why your motorbike has it.
Yes, it is a great upgrade. Any idea which brake brand these are based on? Tektro? I ask because if you cut the hose to custom fit and/or when you bleed you'll need the right bleeding kit. Also, brake pads. I installed the 4 piston hydraulics from XOD but I'm not sure about the accessories. I think it is Tektro.
will they work on himiway
Hey Citizen do you know if a Rad rover5 battery can be repaired? I’m getting only 25 volts on a fully charged battery! It won’t power up, nothing works on the bike! 🤷♂️
From Northwestern Vermont
Hey Darcy I definitely don't know much about battery repair. I guess first question is the battery still under warranty? If not You may have to try to find a local lithium battery builder to fix it or worst case scenario order a whole new battery. If you have to order a whole new battery at least you could get one with more capacity.
@@CitizenCycle925 unfortunately the battery isn’t under warranty. I’ve had the bike two years now, I’m going to call Rad tomorrow to see what they say? Thanks for responding and keep up the good work! ✌️
why did you not just install them with back brake on left? its not a deal breaker given how easy the install is.
Mechanical brake lever upside down, no problem. Hydraulic brake lever upside down, you'll have to remove the levers from the bars when it comes bleeding time.
Yep, you're right about that being a UK thing. But it figures, they drive on the wrong side of the road to start with.
If I had to guess I would say there made for European bikes and not American but that's just what comes to my mind watching this
It's possible to swap the levers. You need a fresh set of hydraulic parts called the pearl and barb. This videos explains the process:
ua-cam.com/video/z5qIrpGR3yY/v-deo.html
The catch is that you would need to bleed the brake lines after swapping. But it's super easy to do a lever bleed (as opposed to a full bleed) if you buy one of those bleed kits with all the yellow parts on Amazon:
ua-cam.com/video/EBvbwvLEwio/v-deo.html
Fireyouracing Mountain Bike Hydraulic Disc Brake DOT Mineral Oil Bleed Kit for AVID Formula Hanyes Echo Shimano Tekro HS33 Magura Nutt (Normally Combination) a.co/d/e2Gt3KG
You'll need some fresh fluid to feed into the brakes too:
BIKEIN PRO MTB Bike Brake Oil Mineral Oil for Shimano Brake System Hydraulic Oils a.co/d/4JZiXQP
You can also buy the same brake calipers from AliExpress and specify how the calipers come built. It's also possible to buy them with the levers not attached yet and combine them as needed to go back or front, which is what I did. I got my brakes from AliExpress for a lot cheaper than what you paid Citizen. I only paid $75 including shipping, but I did have to wait a few weeks. The model I searched for and got which are the same in this video are the "XOD XD-E500" brakes.
I did a write up of the process in this reddit post:
www.reddit.com/r/RadPowerBikes/comments/pllxqm/
Bought on hydraulic brakes so easy
Always something us Brits and you yanks can't agree on,this time it's brake levers😂😂😂
Haha I guess we just bond over our common love of e-bikes instead.
Do you ever get hate from normal bikers for riding such a beast or are you just too fast to hear them?
Doesn't look dangerous anymore 😜
Big Game bikes hydraulic brakes Are reversed Right is The front brake and left is rear
👍 🛑
It's the rear on the left for me after riding motorcycles for 50 years why on earth would I want it different on my ebikes.
" no installation necessary "
" plug and play " 😂😆🤣
So you just open the box ,stand back and the brakes magically appear on your bike .
Shameless click bait