Power cut off brakes are for mainly safety purposes. They bring additional safety to your ride. Ebikeling conversion kits come with the brake levers with power cut-off sensors. Now let’s see how they work. There is a sensor that when you have pulled the brake lever, sends a signal to the controller to turn off the motor. But do you actually need brake cutoffs? It depends where you’re riding your bike. If you’re riding on a crowded bike path or slowly making way through traffic jams, you may need to go very slowly in these circumstances. Also, it’ll protect the rider in case of emergency braking, even though you forgot to release the throttle the brake sensors will cut off the power on the throttle. The sensors override the throttle because there is no point to power the motor while braking. You need to slightly apply the brake levers to activate the brake cut off. Generally you need to squeeze the brake lever almost halfway to ensure your brake sensor will activate and send a signal to the controller to cut off the motor power.
Brake sensor will activate and send a signal to the controller to cut off the motor power.
There are two kinds of electrical cut-off brakes; replacement brake levers that brake sensors are built into, or brake sensors that will fit to your existing brake levers. We will briefly discuss the pros and cons of both types.
Brake levers that power cut off sensor built in to it;
This option basically offers to replace the existing brake lever with the one that already has an electrical cut-off sensor. You can use this option if you don’t have integrated shifters. If you do replace the brake levers while you have an integrated shifter, you have to get a stand-alone gear shifter to go next to the new brake lever. It’s very easy to install on most bikes as it’s a plug and play brake lever. As eBikeling we’re offering only this option with our ebike conversion kits.
Power cut off sensors that can be installed to brake levers;
If you have an integrated shifter or hydraulic brakes then you may choose to install a brake sensor to your existing brake lever. The brake sensors include a magnet sensor, this sensor sticks to the base of the brake and the magnet sticks to the lever. As soon as you pull the lever the magnet splits from the sensor and it’ll shut off the power. It’s a slightly more difficult process to install brake sensors compared to the first option. If you install your sensor and magnet close, the motor will run, however when you pull the brake lever, the magnet will move away from the sensor and immediately cut power from your motor. This provides additional safety, making sure that you do not accidentally continue power on when attempting to brake.
