Happy family

[leftside]

Setup the Core MX 2 today. Love everything about the bike, but oh boy those SRAM R brakes are a pile of crap. Friggin death trap on such a heavy bike. Those will be pulled off, and a few more minor adjustments to the cockpit and the bike will be good to go.

 

[Brett #174]

How long have you ridden it for? It took mine ages to bed in, I was thinking I definitely needed better brakes but they came right after a few rides. Now I'm really happy with them.

 

[leftside]

How long have you ridden it for? It took mine ages to bed in, I was thinking I definitely needed better brakes but they came right after a few rides. Now I'm really happy with them.

I've been riding the black Decoy in the photo for two years. The other bike is my wife's bike that arrived last week and we put it together Saturday morning and then went for a first ride. We'll give it a few more rides before swapping the brakes out then if they take a while settle in. Everything else is great about the bike. The Zeb is a super nice fork - amazing YT put such a nice fork on their "entry level" bike!

 

[stressballsteve]

I would recommend bleeding them. This will provide more feel and better performance. Also, look to swap the discs as they don't dissipate the heat too well.

 

[leftside]

I would recommend bleeding them. This will provide more feel and better performance. Also, look to swap the discs as they don't dissipate the heat too well.

I bled them before putting them on. We'll see how it goes. I've had 3 YT bikes, and this is the 4th. In the end I gave up with SRAM on those 3 bikes and went Saint, Zee or XT. If I have to bleed these SRAM again, then they will get sold, and the relatively hassle free Shimano's will go on. I'd like to try and avoid the extra cost and hassle tho.

Anyway, I don't want to turn this thread into a SRAM brake rant. The rest of the bike is amazing.

Also, I think the EP8 motor has a bit more power than the E8000 as my wife is killing me on the climbs. I'll have to double-check our boost settings before I confirm.

 

[Neloz]

I bled them before putting them on. We'll see how it goes. I've had 3 YT bikes, and this is the 4th. In the end I gave up with SRAM on those 3 bikes and went Saint, Zee or XT. If I have to bleed these SRAM again, then they will get sold, and the relatively hassle free Shimano's will go on. I'd like to try and avoid the extra cost and hassle tho.

Anyway, I don't want to turn this thread into a SRAM brake rant. The rest of the bike is amazing.

Also, I think the EP8 motor has a bit more power than the E8000 as my wife is killing me on the climbs. I'll have to double-check our boost settings before I confirm.

Before we close this off...I know how you feel, I just got my Core 2 MX and I'm used to SRAM brakes myself but these were atrocious; what sorted it out for me was getting some aftermarket pads (Galfer if you're US or UberBike if you're UK) and now they're absolutely fine. Plus if you want more instant bite, just take the rotor out and squeeze lever gently to get the bite point like a Shimano. This is a very cheap way of rectifying it.

 

[steve_sordy]

....................Also, I think the EP8 motor has a bit more power than the E8000 as my wife is killing me on the climbs. I'll have to double-check our boost settings before I confirm.

e8000 is 70Nm torque, EP8 85Nm. But you probably knew that!

But did you know that the EP8 has a lot more adjustability than the e8000? The settings the motor comes with appear to be random.
In addition to setting max torque, you can adjust how rapidly the power comes in after pressing the pedals. But the one that makes the biggest difference is "Assistance Character". This is on a 1 to 10 scale. I have never tried level 1 but I would guess it is "old lady riding to church on a Sunday morning", vs 10 is "traffic lights Grand Prix". For me, 10 gives far too much wheelspin. I tried 5, then 10, then 7 before settling on 8. On a ride I met up with a guy on his new bike. It had EP8 and he said that he was a bit disappointed as it didn't feel lively. I checked his settings via his phone and they were all over the place. I altered his Assistance Character from 3 to 8 in Trail and he was blown away by the difference.

The settings I have been referring to can be different in each of Eco, Trail and Boost. Collectively that is known as a "Profile". You have two profiles available to you, that you can switch between via your display.

I hope that was helpful to someone, if not you!

 

[leftside]

e8000 is 70Nm torque, EP8 85Nm. But you probably knew that!

But did you know that the EP8 has a lot more adjustability than the e8000? The settings the motor comes with appear to be random.
In addition to setting max torque, you can adjust how rapidly the power comes in after pressing the pedals. But the one that makes the biggest difference is "Assistance Character". This is on a 1 to 10 scale. I have never tried level 1 but I would guess it is "old lady riding to church on a Sunday morning", vs 10 is "traffic lights Grand Prix". For me, 10 gives far too much wheelspin. I tried 5, then 10, then 7 before settling on 8. On a ride I met up with a guy on his new bike. It had EP8 and he said that he was a bit disappointed as it didn't feel lively. I checked his settings via his phone and they were all over the place. I altered his Assistance Character from 3 to 8 in Trail and he was blown away by the difference.

The settings I have been referring to can be different in each of Eco, Trail and Boost. Collectively that is known as a "Profile". You have two profiles available to you, that you can switch between via your display.

I hope that was helpful to someone, if not you!

Yes the amount of configuration with the EP8 is great. I also have a Commencal Meta SX Power with EP8, and I always felt the motor was more powerful than my Decoy/E8000 but it was definitely confirmed when riding with my wife. The two different profile settings are great. I use Profile 1 when riding by myself or with other ebike riders, and Profile 2 when riding with the legacy guys. I was riding last night on Profile 2 with a legacy guy, and it's definitely a good work out on the climbs in dialed down eco.

 

[steve_sordy]

@leftside Advice please!

There is a short but steep climb that I am struggling to get up. The problem I have is that I am stalling almost at the top. I have tried everything I can think of and taken suggestions form others too! Now I have a new suggestion to consider that feels counter-intuitive, but it might work.

My mate has suggested that I try a low Assistance Character level instead of level 8 that I have in Trail, or the level 10 that I have in Boost. I have set up Profile 2 to do just that but have yet to try it (I've opted for level 3 which is the default minimum level suggested by Shimano). I am doubtful, but I have never been below level 5, so I don't know for sure. What do you think?

 

[leftside]

@leftside Advice please!

There is a short but steep climb that I am struggling to get up. The problem I have is that I am stalling almost at the top. I have tried everything I can think of and taken suggestions form others too! Now I have a new suggestion to consider that feels counter-intuitive, but it might work.

My mate has suggested that I try a low Assistance Character level instead of level 8 that I have in Trail, or the level 10 that I have in Boost. I have set up Profile 2 to do just that but have yet to try it (I've opted for level 3 which is the default minimum level suggested by Shimano). I am doubtful, but I have never been below level 5, so I don't know for sure. What do you think?

I do prefer the lower settings for steep technical climbing, especially if cornering is involved. I also find keeping the rear end on the seat helps - even if it’s just the very front of the seat. Steady cadence is more important than aggression.

I checked the settings on my Meta this afternoon and most are out of the box for profile 1 and 2 and eco/trail/boost for both.

 

[Futant]

Back to the brakes. I totally agree with the OP on this. The SRAM codes don’t have enough stopping power for this big bike. I switched to Zee’s and it was much better. The difference is that the Codes require more grip strength to get the the max power while the Zee’s have more bite initially. BUT the biggest difference I found was when I put the Galfer 203 rotors on. The stopping power was insane and my hands were much less tired. An additional bonus is that they are much cheaper than new brakes. If I were to go down this road again I would start with the rotors and pads and see if the Codes will work at that point. Cheapest fix!

 

[1oldfart]

Go on asphalt and heat the discs. Maybe in 10 minutes they will improve.
Let us know.

 

[Neloz]

Back to the brakes. I totally agree with the OP on this. The SRAM codes don’t have enough stopping power for this big bike. I switched to Zee’s and it was much better. The difference is that the Codes require more grip strength to get the the max power while the Zee’s have more bite initially. BUT the biggest difference I found was when I put the Galfer 203 rotors on. The stopping power was insane and my hands were much less tired. An additional bonus is that they are much cheaper than new brakes. If I were to go down this road again I would start with the rotors and pads and see if the Codes will work at that point. Cheapest fix!

I changed to 220mm MDR-Ps F/R and the pads to aftermarket (uberbike e-matrix) which have made the codes absolutely fantastic now, still have slight modulation of SRAM, but the power is all there and comes on much quicker. Like you said, much cheaper (£100 for me total) and has got me the end result I was looking for.

 

[leftside]

I changed to 220mm MDR-Ps F/R and the pads to aftermarket (uberbike e-matrix) which have made the codes absolutely fantastic now, still have slight modulation of SRAM, but the power is all there and comes on much quicker. Like you said, much cheaper (£100 for me total) and has got me the end result I was looking for.

We have some uberbike pads on order and will start there. Will be quite happy to change my opinion on the SRAM brakes. Next will be the switch to the 220mm MDR rotors, and even if they don't make a difference to the SRAM brakes, I figure they will make a difference with Shimano brakes as I currently run 223 mm Galfer front and 200mm rear rotors on my bikes.

 

[Futant]

I changed to 220mm MDR-Ps F/R and the pads to aftermarket (uberbike e-matrix) which have made the codes absolutely fantastic now, still have slight modulation of SRAM, but the power is all there and comes on much quicker. Like you said, much cheaper (£100 for me total) and has got me the end result I was looking for.

oops, the rotors I changed too were also 220’s. Not 203. Thanks

 

[2WheelsNot4]

I do prefer the lower settings for steep technical climbing, especially if cornering is involved. I also find keeping the rear end on the seat helps - even if it’s just the very front of the seat. Steady cadence is more important than aggression.

I checked the settings on my Meta this afternoon and most are out of the box for profile 1 and 2 and eco/trail/boost for both. View attachment 81308 View attachment 81309 View attachment 81310 View attachment 81311 View attachment 81312 View attachment 81313

I think they're giving you too many choices. If it were me Eco- MAX, Trail- MAX,Turbo- Anything higher than MAX ?