Are Avid BB7’s as good as hydraulics?

I’ve read a lot of reviews on Avis BB7 cable disks, are they as good as a set of hydraulics? Is the maintenance/adjustability thing an added advantage?

they are different

everyone I have ridden with who got a bike with a set ditched them, but some people on here think they are the best thing since sliced bread.

Easy to fix as anyone can adjust cables – a right faff to set up – thats my experience of bb5s

I have some deore mechanicals, can stop on a tuppence when needed. Never had hydraulics so can’t comment.

once set up they are the most powerfull brakes you can get.
proper on/off braking
no feel or modulation.
ideal for biffers amongst us.

i use them.

Ive got a 203mm disc on the front and it does the job, can be a bit awkward adjusting the inner pad depending on how many spoke you have, you can do the outside on the move.
Its all down to your choice, as you can now get hydraulics for the same price or sometimes cheaper!

I have only used them once but they seemed great – surprisingly powerful. Apparently the issue with them is that on long rides you may need to manually adjust the pads in as they wear down (they don’t auto-adjust like hydraulics)

Have to adjust them more often, for obvious reasons, so they need tweaking at the end of every ride (or half way round, if the weather’s bad) – but they work beautifully.

I removed my Mono Minis and fitted BB7s and haven’t looked back. Piece of pi$$ to set up and adjust, no f*cking around with bleed kits/bits of tube/corrosive fluid, nice lever feel. Manually adjusting the pads takes seconds (plus makes sure you’re aware of how much pad you have left).

Oh, if anyone wants to swap a 180 roundagon disc for a 203, let me know…

I second IHN – BB7s are trivial to set up and adjust (much nicer than the Shimano cable disk brakes I have on the single speed) – and ton – BB7s stop you. I can’t see the need for anything more complicated/expensive. If you have a slot dropout InBred, you’ll need 180 or 203 disks on the back, otherwise the brake interferes with the seatstay.

BB7s are great brakes – I have been using them for 5 years. I use them on my favourite bike (got Juicy 7s on the other).

Take the time to learn to set them up properly and they are great – good feel and powerful stops.

One very important advantage is if you are doing a lot of mud riding. You can wind the pads back a wee bit and there is less scraping when the brake is off, so your pads will last longer.

Got fed up with my avid juicy’s pissing out fluid and 2 new hoses in a year is too much. Using Hayes MX4 mechanical now and they have excellent stopping power. Really easy to adjust too. Hydraulics on a pushbike!? Whats the point? (overkill)

Another fat biffer using BB7s on his bikes here.
To paraphrase Druidh from these parts. Modulation isn’t a problem – you need the hands of a lover not a fighter 😉

Started with Hope Minis. Then went to Magura Louise FRs, but got a SS fitted with BB7s. Liked them so much I ditched the Maguras.

Got tempted by XT 08s, so removed one set of BB7s. Will soon have both sets of XTs up for sale & being replaced by BB7s.

They’re powerful, they do have feel & modulation (well, enough for me) and easy to fettle. Hydraulics need less ongoing faffing (if a couple of minutes before each ride is that bad) but more when the seals go or need bleeding.

I’ve now got 5 sets of BB7s on the go. Best brakes ever IMHO.

I really liked the BB-7’s I had. With adjustable levers you can set them up any way you want. Lighter than a hydraulic set up too.

They’re so cheap just give them a go. There’s always a second hand demand for them if you don’t get on with them.

no feel or modulation.

absolute rubbish. get some speed dial levers and nice cables and learn to use your fingers properly!

Have to adjust them more often, for obvious reasons, so they need tweaking at the end of every ride (or half way round, if the weather’s bad)

what obvious reasons are they then? they never trouble me. only time i had to mess with them mid-ride was when it was -3C at coed y brenin and the Gore Ride-On cable liner froze to the inner and pulled itself through the outer cable. Just popped it back in and it was fine. My friend’s new XT brakes just didn’t even work at that temperature until he eventually got some heat back into them.

One very important advantage is if you are doing a lot of mud riding. You can wind the pads back a wee bit and there is less scraping when the brake is off, so your pads will last longer.

never thought of that!

I’ll tell you another advantage – trees. i hit a tree once and bent the caliper. all i had to do was take it off and put it in my pocket. how would you do that with hydraulics? there’d be oil everywhere!

in a nutshell:

simple, fuss-free no bleeding, easy to set up, powerful, good modulation, light, cheap.

scared to go to hydraulics incase they’re not as good!

They suffer from the same thing that all cable systems suffer from, ie the cable inner will get crap in it and you’ll need to replace them every now and again, apart from that they’re a viable alternative. At least they’ll never boil on a long descent.

bomberman

hydros are not as good.

just gone hydro on one of my bikes (maguras). the other two are still BB7ed.
still impressed with them and the simplicity of them makes any pfaff – straight forward pfaff.

Am I right in thinking the BB7 Road willwork in the On-one slot dropout frames?

dosen’t the road BB7 have a different lever-pull to pad movement ratio? at least i think that’s the difference. made for different levers/amount of pull. could be wrong.

Yes indeed they are!

yes they do have a different ratio – but I reckon they still work with normal levers – but do they work in the slop-dropout frame??

suck it and see

brant just confirmed (on mtbr) that they do 🙂

The big issue in our area is pad wear, the pads (no matter what make) do not seem to last very long compared to LX or XT with any sintered

in the end it was simple economics, the LX’s I put on instead have paid for themselves in reduced pad wear

yeah the avid pads aren’t as cheap as the shimano’s. i’m canny and try to stockpile whenever they come up cheap 😉

I used BB7 for many years I’ve change over to avid juicy’s

In my opinion they do have less feel/modulation/power but I have to do so much more fettling with hydralics.

Also you can adjust the bite point and lever reach more easily for big/small hands.

The only problem is if your small / light the rear wheel can be very easy to lock up.