UKC

Since buying an electric road bike in April I haven't set bum on my faithful Giant Defy - until this morning. I was struck by how strange everything felt. The rear end of the bike seemed very flighty, making it quite hard to steer in a straight line. But the biggest shock was the brakes. New bike - hydraulic discs. Old bike - traditional side-pull rim brakes. At the first need for brakes on a downhill I had a moment or two of real panic - what's happened to the brakes? My hands don't seem strong enough to make them work!They don't seem to be stopping me! It just made me realise what a huge advance it is to have hydraulic and discs. They really do help older people.

However, there was a feeling of loss. Made me realise how much I preferred having a triple chainset, which wasn't an option on the new E-bike. And the gear shifters - what a great idea it was to have those little windows on the top of the brake/gear lever with a little pointer telling you what gear you were in! Why ever did Shimano drop those? Were they deemed uncool? I think I won't be alone in finding a weakened sense of balance has crept up on with age, and I definitely do NOT want to have to look down between my legs to see which sprocket I'm on.

In reply to Rog Wilko:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I've NEVER felt like I haven't got enough brakes on standard rim brakes - and I switch between multiple bikes with rim brakes and mechanical/hydraulic disc brakes.

Try changing your pads and/or fitting new brake cables (inner and outer). Try the Koolstop "salmon" coloured soft compound ones.

In reply to Rog Wilko:

Still available. My new bike earlier this year has them.
You can get ebikes with a double chainset though they are few are far between.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

What groupset does your bike have? 

I do have a double, but really like a triple.

In reply to Rog Wilko:

Ah, sorry, re reading your post - I missed your on a ‘road‘ e-bike. Mine is actually a hybrid model e-bike with straight bars and though bought primarily for road/hard surface is really a comprise and for all round use including soft off-roading. Not a setup for a normal road bike.
Anyway, it’s running with a 1x11 setup; FSA 38T chainring, Sunrace 11-42T cassette with Shimano SLX Rapidfire Plus shifters and Shimano XT 11-speed derailleur.

In reply to Rog Wilko:

Serious question, why would you want a triple on a road ebike?

I've only ever ridden off road ebikes but find I don't need half the gears they have.

In reply to Rog Wilko:

You can still get the "Optical Gear Display" window on groupsets up to Tiagra:

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/technologies/component/details/optical-gear-...

In reply to thepodge:

It's not the number of gears. There are several things I like about triples. One concerns the fact that by changing to smaller chainring, I can get a much slicker down change and so lose less momentum when doing a steep down-and-up, and then do it again. Another issue relates to the cadence change involved with your typical road bike double. The change from 50 to 34 (or vice versa) involves much too large a cadence change whereas my triple offers 26-36-46. It suits me.

In reply to LastBoyScout:

Can't see any for a road bike, only for flat bars. Also has to include mechanism for hydraulic brakes and 11 speed cassette. Don't think they do that.

In reply to Rog Wilko: I think hydraulic discs are amazing, can't understand why anyone would use otherwise except on a retro bike. Love my 1x 12 gearing, but I'm a mountain biker. Don't miss windows in gear shifters, I just go on how hard it is to pedal.

In reply to blackmountainbiker:

I think the gear indicators are most useful with double or triple chainsets as it helps to avoid gross misalignments of the chain. So maybe I should just revert to single c'wheel (but I don't think I will).

In reply to Rog Wilko:

Well if it bothers you enough to go to the expense and effort of changing it all you could plump for one of the cable to hydraulic systems which allow you to match any short pull lever with a hydraulic brake. There are several, for example the Giant Conduct system. This would allow you to have shifters with the little window thingys and the power of hydraulics. There's also the Hop v-wtien which does the same but is more expensive and IMO not as neat. But it is Hope and so the system is bound to be bloody good...

In reply to Rog Wilko:

I probably have the same defy ! Brake blocks were one of the first 'upgrades'. If left unused they do seem to harden a bit and a gentle application of sandpaper helps.

I agree about triples.  I was really upset when my non Shimano crank and chain set went and ended up with a compact instead.  Should have looked harder.

 I was never a fan of the pointers, though.  Never saw the point.  If my legs were too fast or it was too hard I'd change gear !

In reply to Rog Wilko:

Your OP didn't say what groupset/how many gears you have.

Tiagra only goes to 10 speed, so no good for you.

There are various ways of converting cable levers to hydraulic callipers (Tektro/Hope) - can be useful for those with small hands, as less bulky hoods to hold.

I "think" your only option if you want to know which gear you're in with 11-speed and hydraulic is to go Di2 - pretty sure you can get a GPS unit that displays gear - I'll see if I can find the details...

...and here they are - Di2 broadcasts various info, including current gear, that can be picked up and displayed by assorted compatible devices, including Garmin, Wahoo and Lezyne:

https://bike.shimano.com/en-US/information/news/di2-integration--the-world-...
https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=qBnD0bXiLT7g6qMyExVRc9
https://wahoofitness.yonyx.com/y/conversation/?id=08633f81-53dd-11e8-8f6c-b...

In reply to beardy mike:

Hadn't seen that system before - looks quite neat.

You mean the Hope V-Twin, which was the one I was referring to
https://www.hopetech.com/products/brakes/road/v-twin-brake/

And here is the TRP one (earlier post said Tektro in error): https://trpcycling.com/product/hyrd/

In reply to LastBoyScout and others: 

Thanks for all these ideas. In fact I hadn't even considered trying to do anything about it, but I might now! Not keen on spending silly money on it, though.

In reply to GrahamD:

Compact chainsets are the work of the devil. Both our Ebikes came with compacts but I changed them to 46-36. As I have possibly observed on here before, no-one who needs an Ebike needs a 50T chainring.

Mrs Wilko probably needs them more than I do, as she doesn't have the same feel for when she should be on the small or large ring. I sometimes find her on the 46 and on the 34 at the back, or on the 36 and the 11, in which case the chain clatters on the chainstay (though less likely to break the chain). She does possibly miss not having the visual indicators more than I do. 

In reply to LastBoyScout:

I actually installed a TRP unit on my old GT Avalanche using a v-brake lever as I read that they kinda got the lever length a bit wrong and the amount of cable pull is really long for a road brake. They work really well and are smooth and firm. That said, the Giant system has less cable which to my mind is a good thing...