Possible incoming bike will have them, Boardman CX, and the general interweb consensus is to replace with the BB7s.

Is this a case of people not being able to set them up properly, or are they really that bad?

As an aside, does anyone know where the cheapest place to get them is? Germany has them for £95 inc del, and that’s the lowest I have found. Annoyingly, all the cheap BB7s from Hong Kong on eBay are the MTN versions. Which I assume will not work well on a CX bike with road, and sissy, levers

mine are fine.

it seems the pads are BB5-specific, and there’s less adjustment – there’s no dial on the moving-piston, but i’ve never found these to be a problem…

Mine are fairly rubbish – it’s almost embarrassing demonstrating emergency stops to groups of kids!

the one i have is fine – no difference to the BB7 on the other bike

Lady Gresley – Member

Mine are fairly rubbish – it’s almost embarrassing demonstrating emergency stops to groups of kids!

do you:

a) have the wrong callipers? (‘road’ or ‘mountain’)
b) have oil on your discs/pads
c) both of the above

?

I have them on my Kona Ute cargo bike & they can haul 20kg of bike, 100kg of me & a combined 50kg of children to a stop with no problems. Just have to make sure the pads are bedded in PROPERLY from new. (At least 6 really high speed, brake dragging stops to get the pads scorching hot).
I have BB7’s on my Niner & I’d say they do have the edge, not in performance but in feel / modulation. They just feel better.
I’d not be rushing to swap them out unless you dont get on with them, & if your coming from hydro’s then its a a noticeable difference.
I expected swapping them out to be the first mod to my cargo bike but I honestly am more than happy with them.

do you:

a) have the wrong callipers? (‘road’ or ‘mountain’)
b) have oil on your discs/pads
c) both of the above

?
No and no, and no!
They’ve been pretty rubbish from new, but I do now have some new pads to see if that makes any difference.

I’ve not had a problem with mine on my Genesis CdF. I read all the ‘horror stories’ of how bad they were before I bought the bike, and thought I would probably have to upgrade to BB7s pretty soon but in all honesty, they’re fine in my experience.

Had an interesting moment when the inboard pad had either not been set up correctly or had worn down to such an extent that the braking surface was no longer proud of the caliper housing. Meant that the rotor was being pushed against the metal caliper rather than the inboard brake pad. Couldn’t work out why i had no power for a while as there wasn’t a metallic grinding sound that i would have expected. Took pads off, cleaned them and the rotor, put back in, checked, still no power, then twigged that adjusting the other pad may be an idea.

All working fine now, spend a bit of time getting them set up right (esp from halfords) and they’ll be fine.

& if your coming from hydro’s then its a a noticeable difference.

I’m coming from Tiagra road brakes and side pull vees. Not had any hydros, XTs, for 2-3 years now, so the memory is very faint.

We have two pairs of BB5 in the household- one pair of 160mm on her Boardman hybrid/road bike that is just back from a very successful trip up and down numerous Alpine passes while the other pair are on a tandem. The 200mm latters cope very well indeed with 130kg of team, 20kg tandem and 20+kg of trailer on Highlands & Islands tours, so I’d happily recommend. As for the single BB7 on the front of my own ‘road’ bike, I agree with Taki above. This brake has a slightly better feel and perhaps mildy better power for a given rider input at the lever.

I’ve got them on a Boardman CX and I’m happy enough with them. In the dry they’re not really any better than callipers, but as soon as it gets wet they’re just loads more reliable.

The BB7s probably are better again, but for me it’s not worth the upgrade. Unlike the 2.2kg wheelset…

Mine were a bit rubbish to begin with, but I could still lock the back wheel. They’re bedding in nicely now and are getting better.

Still more than enough brake to stop me on my Boardman CX though