Seems odd to be gong back to them, but I’m tried of dodgy hydro discs (now on my fourth set!)

Can anyone recommend me a set of cable disc brakes, and have there been any reviews in the past anyone can point me to?

Many thanks.

why dodgy?

What brakes have you tried?

Avid BB7s. You won’t regret it, I don’t. They are easy to set up, have good ‘feel’, are really powerful, easy to maintain, allow you a choice of levers and when they do need some TLC they don’t contain fluids that’ll strip the skin from your hands.

For the record, I had Mono Minis before.

Juicy 5s and Mono Minis. LBS claim various ‘problems’ including mud on rotors – wtf? Rear has always been fine but the front hasn’t – juddering, sticking pistons, pants braking power (going downhill and pedalling they’re no where near slowing me down) even compared to my old rim brakes… It’s been 2 years and one broken collarbone (minis) and I’ve had enough…

Well, get some Shimano Hydros. They are the most reliable brake out there, especially 07 XT/LX etc.

BB7 are also good.

bb7’s all the way. Well worth it especially if you factor in a couple of kinked or ripped out hoses versus replacing cables.

My missus has a set of BB5s on her commuter – I soooooooooooo wish now we had got hydros for it. Faff to set up. needs cables readjusting every week or so, need to be set up from scratch every month or so – a total pain. The Hopes on two other bikes have needed virtually zero fiddling with veer the same number f miles.

Avoid IMO / IME

Faff to set up. needs cables readjusting every week or so, need to be set up from scratch every month or so – a total pain

what are you doing??? OK sometimes the initial setup is a bit faffy, but on my commuter (Road BB7s) I reckon I adjust the pads 2 or 3 times a year and thats it!

A quick question for you cable disc fans; do you also use gas lighting at home? 😯

If you can’t get hold of any shimano SLX or XT then get some BB7’s

BB7s.

I prefer these to Hope Minis, Magura Louise FR & 08 Shimano XT (All of which I have/had). Simple to set up, don’t need much adjusting and dead easy to fettle.

Clink – no, but I do have an automatic analogue watch. Sometimes progress isn’t.

A quick question for you cable disc fans; do you also use gas lighting at home?

no gas lighting (and 3 other sets of hydraulics) but two of my four bikes also have 8 speed rears. One has isis and one has square taper. All have inner tubes.

I have heard that some of the folk on here have only one gear. 😯 😯 😯

Yeah TJ, what are you doing? Mine were a piece of pi$$ to set up and have needed no faffing with since (bar turning the pad-wear wheel every so often).

My Mono Minis on the other hand were a palaver from day one.

Clink – the BB5s have only one pad adjustor – the other is done on the cable. they need readjusting every week or two and I find it a pita doing it so as to get a decent feel at the lever and no rub.

I set them up as per the avid instructions. its just a faff around getting good lever feel with no rub wheras my hopes get an annual service and that is all.

I’ve just sold 2 sets of Hayes Nines on here, one set was 4 years old, the other 3. I put new pads in them when they wore out every few months, that is all. I replaced one set with SLX and one with Saint 810s. These were taken out of the box and bolted on. They work. Brilliantly. I don’t understand, but each to their own.

When I was in the Alps with BikeVillage, every guide there ran Avid BB7s. That must be a good sign. (No, they weren’t sponsored)

BB7’s…….no question.

I’ve got Avid BB7s and use the Full Metal Jacket outers with them both,they’re as good as my brother’s Deore hydralic brakes,though that’s all i have to compare them with. I found that using a zip tie to attach the guide for the front fork FMJ worked okay,rather than sitcking it onto the fork crown,and used thick Evo Stick glue to stick the cable ferruels onto the ends of the metal tube,because i didn’t have a heat gun handy. I made my metal tube long enough to stop the plastic ferruel from toughing the tube guide that i zip tied on,just in case,and it’s all worked even though it’s not how Avid tell you to do it.

They’re really hassle free and i like them a lot.

Tim

Juicy 5s and Mono Minis. LBS claim various ‘problems’ including mud on rotors – wtf? Rear has always been fine but the front hasn’t – juddering, sticking pistons, pants braking power (going downhill and pedalling they’re no where near slowing me down) even compared to my old rim brakes… It’s been 2 years and one broken collarbone (minis) and I’ve had enough…

They must not have been set up right surely. I have had Juicy 3s for the last 8 months with no problems whatsoever. They stop me superbly with one finger and I weigh 16 st and ride aggressive xc 😉

I chose cable pulls for thier lack of ‘potential’ complexity compared to hydralic brakes,so my cycling is as ‘not having much to thinking about’ as possible,i have cable pull discs and flattie pedals and friction thumbies,i just need to maintain by bearings and chain,and can have a cup of tea when i get back from a ride,instead of adjusting my gears or cleat tension or having to bleed or set up my hydralic brakes.

I try and keep cycling as the one corner of life that’s not complicated. 🙂

The above post is for puzzled hydralic users by the way. Each to thier own though,Hope brakes do look nice,compared to Avid BB7s.

Timothy D, I’m there with you in the quest for an easy life. That’s the beauty of hydro discs; fit, forget, change pads, forget, fit pads, forget, repeat to fade – well actually no, they never fade either. I have never bled a hydraulic brake on a bike; am I doing something wrong?

I’m not questioning the use of cable discs per se, but I do question their preference above hydraulic systems.

Thanks for all the feedback – looks like BB7’s are going to get a look in. If I had the funds I’d try the Shimanos, but being unemployed means money aint in existence just now! Beans on toast here we come – talking of which, is anyone selling any?

The BB7s I had nearly drove me bonkers. Constant adjusting, they are quiet for a mile then the bastard things are sqealing again for no bloody reason I could discern. I gave them away.
Possibly road versions are better.

Similar story to tandemjeremey and billyboy. Constantly adjusting my BB5’s, pretty average performance and I think a hydro cable is much better that a metal one-no dirt intake, kinks, frayed cables etc and once bled to how you like it, it’ll be like that for ages.

had juicy 5’s after which were pretty good, then shimano deore, which were probably better tbh.

BB7’s here as well, I can’t tell the difference between them and my other bikes with “proper” brakes…..Maybe I don’t go down hill fast enough.

to be fair it’s going downhill slowly that’ll show how well they perform anyway.. 😛

I have no argument with the power of the bb5s – just that they are so much more of a fiddle to maintain than hydros

Cycle Sports are a good source for BB7’s at the moment…10% off all orders and free postage….very good service too (no, I don’t work there 😉 )
Don’t forget the all important….good levers (XTR?) and cables.
Cheers
Carl
http://www.cyclesportsuk.co.uk/index.php?cPath=425

I have no argument with the power of the bb5s – just that they are so much more of a fiddle to maintain than hydros

– only if you brake enough to wear down the pads noticably during a single ride. think I only had to touch my old BB7s about every few months or so and even then it was a 30sec job.

BB7s are very good.
BB5s however, not so good.

going downhill and pedalling they’re no where near slowing me down

Stop pedalling then !!

I’ve used BB5s and BB7s. Not had a problem setting up either.
They can be a faff to set up and the only real problem is getting them properly aligned so they don’t rub and make squeaking noises whilst riding. Reliable though.
I’ve just moved over to maguras. So time will tell whether that was the right thing.
Incidently, my friend’s 07 XTs squeak like buggery and I constantly hear of avid juicys with stuck pistons.

TJ have you tried an inline cable adjuster?

Al – they have a cable adjuster at each end so I don’t see how an inline adjuster will help. Hopefully the better levers now on the bike will alleviate the issue ( the previous levers were not pulling enough cable hence making set up even more fiddly)

I think that the issue with cable discs stems from the fact you are turning a movement in cm at the lever to a movement in mm at the pad – thus is tolerances are slightly out in the mechanism a tiny bit of play means they are less effective.

So if you’d fitted them with a suitable lever in the first place they wouldn’t have been fiddly at all? 🙄

as fiddly perhaps

Still a fiddle and a faff imo / ime even with better levers.

They have their advantages no doubt – some of the tandem boys rate them for the fact there is no fluid to overheat – but then they melt the plastic adjusters. Still easier to repair a cable than a hose.

I just prefer the self adjusting faff free hydros to a brake that needs to be adjusted on a regular basis

I have BB7s on my commute/just-riding-around bike; they are very good indeed. The only downside I find is that when they get wet they are the NOISEST THINGS ON EARTH! I can play tunes on them as the front makes a slightly different pitch noise to the rear. I’ve tried all sorts to shut them up but to no avail…

Bike 1 – BB7’s for 6 years and no bother at all.

Bike 2 – HFX-9, then Juicy7’s, just not up to standard and have just bought a set of BB7’s to go on instead.

Also tried shinano Deore hydros and they didn’t blow me away either.

BB5’s are a bit shit and more fiddley, whereas the BB7’s just do the job perfectly.