which brakes did you swap to and what did you think?

juicys – they’re all just brakes

I went the other way and have never looked back.

new hope tech jobbies, and formula oros
thought i would use bb7 for ever but these 2 seem ok so far.
we will see.

run avids on one bike , run Xts on another

avids much more grab and more Raw power imho with single digit 3 levers

XTs more modulation and control on how the power is applied

went to juicys.
pro: went from 2 finger braking to one finger braking.
con: allergic to brake fluid, get leper’s hands from bleeding brakes – skin flakes off (a bit like sunburn but itchier). But I haven’t needed to bleed them often.

I’m a fan of Avid brakes.

Went to magura’s on the other bikes.

Still use them on the SS because I love the simplicity and reliability of them.

They lack the feel of hydros but plenty powerful enough.

anyone noticed an increase in performance?

edit: sorry wasnt reading the posts too well there…

i can’t seem to justify 300 quid on something used to slow me down! any more advantages? i tried my mates hope mini pros and they felt quite squishy in comparison. i can brake with just my middle finger on the BB7s but i’d like to be able to use my index finger…

are the hope x2’s a one finger lever? they look quite long

as I said, half as many fingers to stop same rider. definitely better performance, plus less maintenance.

(my latest bike has XTs on it and I agree with trail_rat, loads of modjerlation on the braking with them)

id say juicy’s are a bit more powerful than BB7’s but to be honest making sure the pads are nt glazed makes more of a difference.

However the juicies have much more modulation which I find is very important on the rear brake.

Personally I find hydralics more of a faff I found I could get the BB7’s set up just how I liked ie a small amount of money before the brake activates.

food for thought…

i don’t think i’d need TOO much more power or i’d be over the bars. have heard about a few problems with sticky pistons etc. think the only reason i might swap is if they give me a more cushy feel/better control.

My Mrs has BB5s and I have hope minis. The hopes have a much softer lever feel – depends if you like that – I do as IMO you get more modulation. I don’t think there is much difference in outright power – maybe the hopes a bit more maybe the BB5s a bit more initial bite.

Different hydaulics have different lever feel – I rode a bike with some ( can’t remember what) that I hated – like pinching a brick, No feel to the lever at all. Its a matter of taste to a great extent

I also prefer the fit and forget of the hydros

Hmmm.

My first brakes were Hope Minis, then switched to Magura Louise FRs. Got BB7s on the SS, and wondered why I needed hydros – BB7s just as powerful, feel is fine with me, single finger braking not a problem.

Put BB7s on my Turner – nice. The got the itch for hydros again, so got XTs. Work just about as well as the BB7s but more major faffing required – bleeding, leaking pistons etc. BB7s, on the other hand, need more minor faffing like pad adjustment.

Overall, BB7s perform as well as any hydro I’ve tried. Personally I’m giving the XTs a summer before decide whether to ditch them or not & move the whole fleet back over to BB7s.

BB7s are quite expensive now though arent they? plus you only get those sh*tty roundagon rotors instead of the G2s. I’m probably going to stick to my BB7s and occasionally just drool over the gorgeous looking Hope tech x2s!

i have BB7 roads and BB5s I ised for many years. The BB5s nearly killed me because I didn’t adjust them – they get a bit crap them suddenly stop working at all because only 1 pad moves, the other is fixed so the disc gets bent and there’s very littel pad contact beyond a certain point. When adjusted correctly, they’re good. If you need to use cables (STI levers) they’re great.

BUT I switched to Deores after the BB5s nearly killed me. And hydraulics self-adjust, have 2 moving pads, blah. Very good.

BUT at SSWC Aviemore, the morning after a discussion with Jeff Jones on why he uses BB7s on his wonder bikes (“you can’t lose all the fluid and be helpless if you have cables”) – I got on the bike and found I’d lost all the fluid in my rear brake due to a loose banjo! Cue DIY brake-bleed kit.

BUT that doesn’t really happen much and you can get good hydraulics for sweeties now:
CRC has LX for £50 an end, wrong levers but easy to swap

All in all I’m off the BB5s.

al.

it’s your own stupidity that nearly killed you Allan 🙄

BB5’s rule! They are so instantly adjustable on the move.

… actually this deal from Merlin is better – I’m not convinced the CRC deal includes all the bits.

al.

GW: you’re right. But so am I!
al.

right that’s it i’m sticking with the cable brakes 🙂

must not look at hope x2s
must not look at hope x2s
must not look at hope x2s
must not look at hope x2s
must not look at hope x2s
(but they are very nice)

I use both. The hydro’s are a tad smoother and more powerful but harder to keep sweet. The new XT style brakes use the same adjustment method with makes them better. Bog all in it to be honest.

BB5’s rule! They are so instantly adjustable on the move.

Whilst hydraulics require no adjustment at all…..

was previously very happy with bb7s until i wheeled the bike out one day after it hadn’t been used for a while. going down a technical descent i had one of those moments where i just wanted to arrest the speed a bit, then roll out with brakes off, but the cables were sticky and i very nearly went over the bars.
i think if you have a limited number of bikes and use them all the time they’re fine, or worry about boiling fluid on a holiday, no problem. set them up and they’ll be good to go.
i use hayes nines now, though have juicy fives on one bike but will swap those over to nines too. you can get a complete set of hayes nines for about 80 quid if you look for them.

BB7s were fitted to a bike a bought 2nd hand from here. I wasn’t that impressed with their performance (more a lack of power – 160mm rotors) so swapped to 180/160mm XT hydraulics, the non-servowave, silver ones. To be honest, I’d planned to change to XTs anyway as I had a spare set lying around and prefer to have the same brakes on all my bikes, i.e. less spares to carry around and keep.

There was a reason I went for BB7s over hydrolics but I forget why now. I run Magura Louise and doubt I will use anything else for a long time.

IMHO Hydros are just easier all round.
GF had tektro cable stoppers on her bike and in the beginning they felt as good if a little stiffer on the pull action due to cables, possibly nicer than my J7’s 6 months later of commuting only on cycle paths the cables were dirty and harder to pull, the brakes a also bit contaminated. don’t feel very nice at all. Most of this may be maintenance but my J7’s have had no maintenance and feel just the same.
Set up in board on the shifters my levers are perfect for one finger braking and only on the steepest fastest descents would I prefer more power which a bigger rotor would sort. Also I like the solidity of hydros, I don’t like the stretch associated with cables
also AFAIK most cable brakes are offically restricted to organic pads so will wear faster.

I thought they were lighter than equivalent hydro’s, but looking at that mtbr link, they’re actually heavier!

I’ve been using BB7s for a while, but really struggle with them in the wet at Afan, particularly with accelerated wear on the static pad and found I was forever having to adjust them, even with sintered pads.

I’ve just put SLX hydraulics on the bike I mainly ride at Afan/Glyncorrwg/Cwmcarn/Peaks, and really like the way they feel.

I’ll keep the cable brakes on my other bike as I really like their simplicity and like their feel…..