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> I need to fully trust that when I squeeze that brake lever that my bike will come to a stop in the exact way that I intend. Including if the electricals fail

> I need to fully trust that when I squeeze that brake lever that my bike will come to a stop in the exact way that I intend. Including if the electricals fail for some reason. I take it you’ve never experienced mechanical brake failure. It can happen, and is probably more likely to happen than an electrical brake, because of the greater forces applied on the flimsier brake cable. One of my sisters once was riding her bicycle to school, which had only one operable brake at the time—the other was ineffective for some reason and she hadn’t mentioned this to us, so it didn’t get fixed. Well, going down the final hill, the brake cable snapped; and when she reached the bottom of the hill where you turn onto the campus, she panicked and turned despite her speed, and so tumbled over a low brick wall at the gate and broke an arm, rather than just going up the other side of the hill until she stopped.

jacquesm 5y ago
Brake cables need periodical exchanging. Many people don't do this for some reason. A well maintained brake cable will support your whole weight, one that is ignored for a decade or so will snap when you need it most. There is no periodical roadworthyness review for bicylces, if I look at the things people sometimes cycle on I shudder. Broken / not properly tensioned spokes, cracked rims, missing brake pads, brakes not working at all, fixies, broken ball bearings, skipping chains etc. Bikes need maintenance, like every other vehicle.
- chrismorgan 5y ago
  > for some reason (a) it takes effort; (b) it’s working, right? so why would I spend $6 + my own labour, or probably $50 for someone else to do it, on a new cable? You are quite right that bicycles need maintenance, but they work well enough for many people with limited to no maintenance, so that even when they experience what their bike is like when maintained, they often still won’t find it worth the bother. (I would be inclined to be like that if only using the bike for fairly short trips; as it stands, my standard trip is 40km each way, so such losses would become too galling.) This preference not to maintain incidentally points to a way in which I think electric drive-trains have real potential: they should require much less maintenance, and generally retain higher efficiency. “5% less efficient than a chain”, perhaps, but that’s a maintained chain. Minimally-maintained chain drivetrains will probably have lost that 5%, and unmaintained ones can easily lose 20%.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    An unmaintained chain can break, and that can cost you a few thousand in dental work or your life if you are extremely unlucky. Better keep it lubed and make sure the sprockets aren't worn too far (especially important on derailleur bikes).
cianmm 5y ago
I have experienced brake failure, maybe twice in the more than a decade I’ve been commuting. Pretty scary stuff when it happens, I feel for her. I’ve always gotten that broken brake repaired within 48 hours (I live in somewhere that is pretty close to a 15 minute village, and it includes a bike shop, and there’s a bike shop a similar distance from my office), and not cycled in the meantime. I’d find spontaneous electrical failure a much more likely occurrence than spontaneous failure of both independent brakes.

jacquesm 5y ago

Brake cables need periodical exchanging. Many people don't do this for some reason. A well maintained brake cable will support your whole weight, one that is ignored for a decade or so will snap when you need it most. There is no periodical roadworthyness review for bicylces, if I look at the things people sometimes cycle on I shudder. Broken / not properly tensioned spokes, cracked rims, missing brake pads, brakes not working at all, fixies, broken ball bearings, skipping chains etc. Bikes need maintenance, like every other vehicle.

chrismorgan 5y ago
> for some reason (a) it takes effort; (b) it’s working, right? so why would I spend $6 + my own labour, or probably $50 for someone else to do it, on a new cable? You are quite right that bicycles need maintenance, but they work well enough for many people with limited to no maintenance, so that even when they experience what their bike is like when maintained, they often still won’t find it worth the bother. (I would be inclined to be like that if only using the bike for fairly short trips; as it stands, my standard trip is 40km each way, so such losses would become too galling.) This preference not to maintain incidentally points to a way in which I think electric drive-trains have real potential: they should require much less maintenance, and generally retain higher efficiency. “5% less efficient than a chain”, perhaps, but that’s a maintained chain. Minimally-maintained chain drivetrains will probably have lost that 5%, and unmaintained ones can easily lose 20%.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  An unmaintained chain can break, and that can cost you a few thousand in dental work or your life if you are extremely unlucky. Better keep it lubed and make sure the sprockets aren't worn too far (especially important on derailleur bikes).

cianmm 5y ago

I have experienced brake failure, maybe twice in the more than a decade I’ve been commuting. Pretty scary stuff when it happens, I feel for her. I’ve always gotten that broken brake repaired within 48 hours (I live in somewhere that is pretty close to a 15 minute village, and it includes a bike shop, and there’s a bike shop a similar distance from my office), and not cycled in the meantime. I’d find spontaneous electrical failure a much more likely occurrence than spontaneous failure of both independent brakes.