New to e-bikes, mods and upgrades

[roadracer516]

Hello! Just bought new e-bikes for me and the wife. I come from a long history of motorcycles, both MX and roadracing and pleasure, commuting. Cannot believe how much fun these are and great that me and the wife can ride together. I also have a long history of road bike pedaling and mountain bike pedaling.

I am notorious for going overboard with mods, especially with regards to lighting / visibility, brakes and suspension. I realize that my ebike does not go 185mph like some of my past roadracing superbikes went, but I am caught up in that world!

Would love to hear what others are doing to their e-bikes, thanks in advance!

Mine: 2023 Velotric Nomad 1.
Mods so far: high speed unlock, suspension seat post, 203mm front and rear floating rotors (were 180's), pedals, additional battery operated headlight, high visibility tail light, chain stay guard, left mirror.
On the way: Magura MT Trail Sport 4 pot front, 2 pot rear calipers with one finger master cylinders, 120mm front fork upgrade.

Wife's: 2023 Aventon Adventure.
Mods so far: high speed unlock, 203mm front and rear floating rotors (were 180's), additional battery operated headlight, high visibility tail light, left mirror.

 

[HumanPerson]

Welcome to our humble home

 

["A"]

Similar to you, I've been riding motorcycles for nearly three decades; participated in enduro/hare scramble events, track days, weekends, etc..
On the bicycles I've worked as bike messenger in my teens, raced in my college years and participated in all sort of bicycle racing back in the 90's.
My most repeated moto is: Brakes, who needs them; they only slow you down.
Next to that: Anyone can ride fast in a straight line.

These days, I find myself happy just to be out on a bike, commuting & running errands; cycling with people who I enjoy the company, food along the ride is a huge plus; no desire for speed beyond the state of being or conversing with those who I ride.
Therefore, I don't really modify my ebikes for more performance. I rarely use OEM brakes on my bikes, motorcycles or ebikes.

 

[Hoggdoc]

Hello! Just bought new e-bikes for me and the wife. I come from a long history of motorcycles, both MX and roadracing and pleasure, commuting. Cannot believe how much fun these are and great that me and the wife can ride together. I also have a long history of road bike pedaling and mountain bike pedaling.

I am notorious for going overboard with mods, especially with regards to lighting / visibility, brakes and suspension. I realize that my ebike does not go 185mph like some of my past roadracing superbikes went, but I am caught up in that world!

Would love to hear what others are doing to their e-bikes, thanks in advance!

Mine: 2023 Velotric Nomad 1.
Mods so far: high speed unlock, suspension seat post, 203mm front and rear floating rotors (were 180's), pedals, additional battery operated headlight, high visibility tail light, chain stay guard, left mirror.
On the way: Magura MT Trail Sport 4 pot front, 2 pot rear calipers with one finger master cylinders, 120mm front fork upgrade.

Wife's: 2023 Aventon Adventure.
Mods so far: high speed unlock, 203mm front and rear floating rotors (were 180's), additional battery operated headlight, high visibility tail light, left mirror.

I'm curious why didn't you buy two of the 2023 Velotric Nomad 1 bikes as the specs seem superior to the Aventon?

 

[roadracer516]

I'm curious why didn't you buy two of the 2023 Velotric Nomad 1 bikes as the specs seem superior to the Aventon?

The Nomad was too large for my wife, the Aventon fitter her well and reviews were good. She also is not needing or wanting to mod, will ride it like it is for the most part. That said, I cannot help myself from a few mods for the that I know involve safety or that she might like.

 

[hsdrggr]

May I suggest an add-on that is a safety must-have if you share roadways.
Garmin Varia RVR315
I have these units on both ebikes. Keeps my wife and I very aware of the approach and placement of vehicles behind us. To many of us get injured and killed by distracted motorists.
I wear earbuds for music which blocks a lot of road noise and I still get Bluetooth notifications from my Varia in addition to visuals on my iPhone so I can be alerted to look in my mirror.
It alerts a lot on city streets which I guess some feel is aggravating but on country roads it’s a welcome alert to keep us alert and safe.

 

[ETrike]

I'm trying to find someone who has retained even some cursory knowledge of the current suspension mod market and not having much luck.
I would get on one of these mountain bike forums and concentrate on how the MTB Pros are handling the big stuff. In my opinion, adjustable suspension means absolutely everything (especially when you get older) and the market is obviously there if no one is filling it (can't seem to find anyone here who agrees...yet that's what a forum is all about!),.

 

[hsdrggr]

That’s a pretty broad question. If you’re talking about adjustable hydraulic/air shocks: Other then setting up rebound and dampening resistance for which there are plenty of instructions on YouTube. other set ups are bike and rider specific.
I send my mountain bike rear Fox shock to Push Industries. They rework it based your weight and riding style. Also they need info on the model of bike because of the differing mounting styles which affect leverage ratios.

 

[leyelliott]

May I suggest an add-on that is a safety must-have if you share roadways.
Garmin Varia RVR315
I have these units on both ebikes. Keeps my wife and I very aware of the approach and placement of vehicles behind us. To many of us get injured and killed by distracted motorists.
I wear earbuds for music which blocks a lot of road noise and I still get Bluetooth notifications from my Varia in addition to visuals on my iPhone so I can be alerted to look in my mirror.
It alerts a lot on city streets which I guess some feel is aggravating but on country roads it’s a welcome alert to keep us alert and safe.

Thank you for this suggestion, I had never heard of this before. Just ordered

 

[ETrike]

That’s a pretty broad question. If you’re talking about adjustable hydraulic/air shocks: Other then setting up rebound and dampening resistance for which there are plenty of instructions on YouTube. other set ups are bike and rider specific.
I send my mountain bike rear Fox shock to Push Industries. They rework it based your weight and riding style. Also they need info on the model of bike because of the differing mounting styles which affect leverage ratios.

Yeah I'm speaking mainly of the best of the best. Why not if you're already spending ridiculously on these basic bikes in the first place. Fox has always been right there at the forefront of these technologies so it is interesting to hear that you have one on your bike as well. Wondering if you have this particular one (their latest?) and/or if this model has anything that you like:

Mountain Bike Shocks | FOX

FOX redefines ride dynamics for ATVs, mountain bikes, motocross, off-road vehicles, snowmobiles, trucks, and UTVs.

www.ridefox.com

 

[hsdrggr]

No. I have a Fox Float RP23.
You can’t just throw any shock on your bike. It needs to be specific based on the application. I.e. correct lever ratio, weight, etc. the shocks have differing internal volumes and valving which are specific to the mounting and pivot ratio of the bike.

 

[ETrike]

I assumed as much and thanks for sharing. No different for the various geometries in our wide array of modern off road vehicles, motorcycles/atvs/utvs, (etc). I wonder if Fox or any other company has geometric templates of sorts (yeah, I'm assuming that most younger American generations are at least schooled in basic Geometry) which explain the outside limits of these products *in real life*; especially the design challenges inherent in such a short stroke suspension acted upon by often the beanpole (light) kids of today all the way up to often the heavier riders of say my generation.
If not, I guess that we'll just send in the dimensional specs. of our fully suspended Soletri trike when(?) it gets here and see if they're even interested in plugging those unique numbers in to their Fox perputers.
It's getting to the point in my Township where the majority of our roads will simply be ground back in to gravel due to an obvious lack of maintenance and long term planning...save for those roads leading to the wealthy and the next Village due only to pure shame/commercial considerations (the latter) and pure corruption (the former).
We need a trike that might offer some relief from the old time 'washboards' that few in young generations have ever experienced and which are coming fast to a rural road not to mention currently well maintained trail system nearby.
We simply ran out of money folks and my generation isn't too eager to tell you how it happened or why (we apparently like things just the way that they are as we approach the end of our lives for some 'unknown' reason).

 

[Smaug]

Welcome, from SE WI.
(consider filling in your location info; maybe you can make local friends?)

 

[Crewzer]

Hello! Just bought new e-bikes for me and the wife. I come from a long history of motorcycles, both MX and roadracing and pleasure, commuting. Cannot believe how much fun these are and great that me and the wife can ride together. I also have a long history of road bike pedaling and mountain bike pedaling.

I am notorious for going overboard with mods, especially with regards to lighting / visibility, brakes and suspension. I realize that my ebike does not go 185mph like some of my past roadracing superbikes went, but I am caught up in that world!

Would love to hear what others are doing to their e-bikes, thanks in advance!

Mine: 2023 Velotric Nomad 1.
Mods so far: high speed unlock, suspension seat post, 203mm front and rear floating rotors (were 180's), pedals, additional battery operated headlight, high visibility tail light, chain stay guard, left mirror.
On the way: Magura MT Trail Sport 4 pot front, 2 pot rear calipers with one finger master cylinders, 120mm front fork upgrade.

Wife's: 2023 Aventon Adventure.
Mods so far: high speed unlock, 203mm front and rear floating rotors (were 180's), additional battery operated headlight, high visibility tail light, left mirror.

My wife and I bought Velotric Discover 1 and a Nomad 1 bikes in March. So far, her Discover 1 is stock except for some fine-tuning of the front brake caliper-to-rotor alignment and adding a left side rear view mirror.

My Nomad 1 is a heavy bike (~70 lbs.), I’m a big guy (6’-7, ~270 lbs.), and we live in a community laced with paved but often steep roads. I (temporarily) upgraded to a 203mm Shimano SM-RT66 front rotor fairly quickly, but I cooked the OEM resin rear pads and no-name 180mm rear rotor in the first ~75 miles.

So, I too have wandered down the upgrade rabbit hole:

> Raised handlebars with a 10cm extender
> Installed a Cloud 9 seat
> Attached a left side rear view mirror
> Added a seat post-mounted smart taillight
> Installed 203mm Shimano RT-MT905 ICE rotors front and rear (with new adapters)
> Installed semi-metallic brake pads front and rear

The new brakes are immensely better, but I still worry about the heat load when coasting down our long road descents at up to ~24 mph. So, my next upgrade may be to replace the OEM calipers (apparently some sort of two-piston Shimano MT500) with MT520 four-ceramic-piston calipers and sintered metallic pads.

These two calipers appear to use different brake hose and fittings (BH-59 vs BH-90), so I have bit more research to do before tackling this upgrade, as the respective flare nuts for securing the brake hoses to the calipers appear to have different thread specs.

I also found the stock 26 x 4.0 (100-559) CST BFT off-road tires to have a high rolling resistance and to be very noisy, so I replaced them with 26 x 3.50 (90-559) Vee Tire Speedsters for my primarily paved road riding. Much “faster” and quieter!

Finally, I’ve experimented with the tire “SIZE” setting in the computer. With the 26 x 4 tires I found “28” seemed to deliver fairly accurate odometer readings when compared to my Apple Watch, and “27.5” seems to be working well with the new 26 x 3.5 tires.

In sum, the OEM brakes were sub-par IMHO for my riding conditions (bike weight, my weight, hilly neighborhood). I like the upgrades I’ve made so far, and I’m confident I’ll eventually get the brakes “right”.

Otherwise, we really like our eBikes!

Safe riding,
Jim/ crewzer

New Shimano 203mm rotor:

OEM rear caliper with new 160 / 203 adapter:

New tire:

 

[HumanPerson]

Oh i have those tires. Set the bead correctly or they will death wobble all over the place.

Other than that, once i got them installed correctly they are great riding on, so quiet and alot less rolling resistance in my opinion

 

[Hoggdoc]

My wife and I bought Velotric Discover 1 and a Nomad 1 bikes in March. So far, her Discover 1 is stock except for some fine-tuning of the front brake caliper-to-rotor alignment and adding a left side rear view mirror.

My Nomad 1 is a heavy bike (~70 lbs.), I’m a big guy (6’-7, ~270 lbs.), and we live in a community laced with paved but often steep roads. I (temporarily) upgraded to a 203mm Shimano SM-RT66 front rotor fairly quickly, but I cooked the OEM resin rear pads and no-name 180mm rear rotor in the first ~75 miles.

So, I too have wandered down the upgrade rabbit hole:

> Raised handlebars with a 10cm extender
> Installed a Cloud 9 seat
> Attached a left side rear view mirror
> Added a seat post-mounted smart taillight
> Installed 203mm Shimano RT-MT905 ICE rotors front and rear (with new adapters)
> Installed semi-metallic brake pads front and rear

The new brakes are immensely better, but I still worry about the heat load when coasting down our long road descents at up to ~24 mph. So, my next upgrade may be to replace the OEM calipers (apparently some sort of two-piston Shimano MT500) with MT520 four-ceramic-piston calipers and sintered metallic pads.

These two calipers appear to use different brake hose and fittings (BH-59 vs BH-90), so I have bit more research to do before tackling this upgrade, as the respective flare nuts for securing the brake hoses to the calipers appear to have different thread specs.

I also found the stock 26 x 4.0 (100-559) CST BFT off-road tires to have a high rolling resistance and to be very noisy, so I replaced them with 26 x 3.50 (90-559) Vee Tire Speedsters for my primarily paved road riding. Much “faster” and quieter!

Finally, I’ve experimented with the tire “SIZE” setting in the computer. With the 26 x 4 tires I found “28” seemed to deliver fairly accurate odometer readings when compared to my Apple Watch, and “27.5” seems to be working well with the new 26 x 3.5 tires.

In sum, the OEM brakes were sub-par IMHO for my riding conditions (bike weight, my weight, hilly neighborhood). I like the upgrades I’ve made so far, and I’m confident I’ll eventually get the brakes “right”.

Otherwise, we really like our eBikes!

Safe riding,
Jim/ crewzer

New Shimano 203mm rotor:

View attachment 8779

OEM rear caliper with new 160 / 203 adapter:

View attachment 8783

New tire:

View attachment 8785

I like all your improvements but would direct you to Area13 eBikes and their line up of Galfer rotors and brake pads if you are looking for more braking power. Galfer even has rotors bigger than 203mm and all their rotors are thicker than other MFGs. Check them at their site: https://www.galferusa.com/bike/

 

[Crewzer]

Oh i have those tires. Set the bead correctly or they will death wobble all over the place.

Other than that, once i got them installed correctly they are great riding on, so quiet and alot less rolling resistance in my opinion

Yeah, I did have some trouble setting the first new tire. I did get it after several tries, and setting the second tire was less of a struggle.

Thanks,
Jim / crewzer

 

[Crewzer]

I like all your improvements but would direct you to Area13 eBikes and their line up of Galfer rotors and brake pads if you are looking for more braking power. Galfer even has rotors bigger than 203mm and all their rotors are thicker than other MFGs. Check them at their site: https://www.galferusa.com/bike/

I stumbled across the Galfer 223mm rotors and 63mm adapters during my research. Frankly, I hope the Shimano 203mm ICE rotors and, if necessary, the four-piston calipers will ultimately do the trick for me.

The next step, if necessary, would be installing brake pads with heat sinks (HO3C’s?).

The Galfer components would be my solution of last resort, but my research suggests they could well be overkill, even for my application. I’ve also read concerns about the compatibility of these big rotors with some front suspension forks.

Thanks,
Jim / crewzer

 

[pwaitzman]

I'm looking to solve a problem that I have with the Velotric Discover1 eBike that we purchased for my wife. My wife likes everything about it except the immediate acceleration to 8 MPH when she starts peddling from stop (at the lowest PAS Level); that makes things difficult, to say the least, if she's on anything other that a smooth flat surface. On our other bike I'm able to tweak the settings for the individual PAS levels so that the power levels are reasonable, but the Discover1 set up does not allow that option. Can anyone suggest a display and/or controller upgrade that I could purchase and install that would allow me to program the individual PAS levels?

 

[Crewzer]

My understanding is Velotric’s PAS level behavior is typical of the wide-market cadence sensor technology they use to control the motor. If the pedals are moving at any speed, then the motor kicks in and attempts to accelerate the bike to the chosen PAS level’s speed limit.

I gather pedaling with torque sensor technology can vary the motor “boost”.

HTH,
Jim / crewzer