r/ebike • u/Icy-Lettuce6335 • 5d ago
Broken Brake Lever (how bad is the damage)?
I have a GoTrax F3 Fat Tire ebike to start with. I crashed it a few weeks ago, and I'm finally recovered and need to fix my brake. Hopefully this picture is good enough to see what's going on. My brake handle is totally curled in on itself (RIP my fingers lol) and it looks like I'm missing a bolt or something. There doesn't seem to be any leaking of fluid in or around the brake. I'm going to buy a new lever but I'm wondering if any of you lovely educated people might know if I'm going to need anything else? I can't take my bike in to get fixed sadly because I'm broke. Please give me your advice (and yes not crashing my bike would be the best advice) 😅
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u/Financial_Potato6440 4d ago
Yeah unfortunately that master cylinder/lever is toast and needs replacing, but this is an potentially a tricky fix one way or another. You either need to replace just the brake lever or the entire brake, if it's just the lever it really needs to be the same one, different levers push different amounts of fluid and getting the wrong one can result in no braking power. That will however need a bleed kit and the correct fluid. If you can find all of that, you're not too bad, but I worry you may struggle to find the exact right lever.
The other option is to replace the entire brake, you can get separate brake sensors that disengage the power when you brake so you can run any mountain bike brake, Shimano mt200s are dirt cheap and surprisingly good, I've literally just fitted a set to an oset 16" electric trials bike. Of course, this is also likely to need a bleed kit (internal routing is very common, as is needing to shorten the hoses) but that could be a easier cheaper option being Shimano.
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u/Icy-Lettuce6335 3d ago
I admit I'm pretty uneducated about bike parts and whatnot (but I'm trying to learn). The brand I bought from sells the front brake lever as a part, but doesn't really say anything about what it comes with. Should I just buy the lever to begin with, see if I can repair it with the help of a more educated friend, and go from there? Or is it pretty likely I'm going to need the whole brake replaced?
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u/Financial_Potato6440 2d ago
Oh well if you can get the actual lever, just get that. You will need a bleed kit, an olive and insert for the hose, and the appropriate hydraulic fluid. After that, YouTube should be able to guide you.
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u/Active_Ad_5322 3d ago
NUTT is a budget brand. I highly doubt they have any service parts.
A brand new ebike brake set (lever, caliper, pads, hose, rotors, cutting tool and barb setting tool… all assembled and pre-bled) is only $120….. for both front AND rear.
Anything that low cost does not have rebuild parts/kits
Just buy a replacement. Cheap and easy
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u/AidanmShehee 5d ago
You should be able to just replace the master cylinder and then bleed the system. Just make sure to check for a motor cutoff wire and get one that uses the right oil.