Cyclocross - Difference between mountain and road Avid mechanical disk brakes

Greetings Fellas

Just wondering what is the basic difference between Avid BB7 mountain and Avid BB7 road disk brakes? Can I use a set of mountain BB7 calipers with brifters and still stop the bicycle?

Thanks

Mountain and road levers pull different amount of cable, which is why there are two versions. Get the one that is meant for the type of levers you use.

...Can I use a set of mountain BB7 calipers with brifters and still stop the bicycle?

Thanks

No, not safely.


Mountain and road levers pull different amount of cable, which is why there are two versions. Get the one that is meant for the type of levers you use.

^^what he said

Thanks for your replies.

Even the road calipers with road leavers feel soft and spongey. It's extremely hard to make them feel good without the brake pad rubbing on the disc.

Even the road calipers with road leavers feel soft and spongey. It's extremely hard to make them feel good without the brake pad rubbing on the disc.

Not in my experience - I'm able to set mine up (BB-RD and BB7 RD) so that they're extremely sharp. All I can think of is changing the cable/housing and seeing if that helps.

I'm talking about new bikes equipped with Tiagra brifters.

Even the road calipers with road leavers feel soft and spongey. It's extremely hard to make them feel good without the brake pad rubbing on the disc.

I've recently setup a new bike with BB7 and road levers. Not soft and spongey at all, the modulation is fantastic, that reason alone is worth it for disc brakes.

well, maybe they worked for you guys...
i think most people have problems getting them to feel good and have anywhere near the amount of power that the standard bb7's do. you do need to set the pads very close to the rotor to make them perform decently.

disc brakes on cx or road bikes is just stupid to begin with

disc brakes on cx or road bikes is just stupid to begin withPLeasedont leave us hanging like that. Why?

Even the road calipers with road leavers feel soft and spongey. It's extremely hard to make them feel good without the brake pad rubbing on the disc.

I'm going to echo the other replies in this thread and say I had no problems at all getting my BB7 Road set-up perfectly. It took me a week or so of commuting (it is on my cross racing bike, but it's also my commuter) to get the brakes bedded in and really effective, but now they're set.

I'm staying out of the disk vs. canti fight though.

disc brakes on cx or road bikes is just stupid to begin with

LOL. An ignorant comment no?

Here's something that is useful to keep in mind when making opinions about almost every products out there:

Try it out before you say anything about it, then make your opinion. If you have no constructive opinion, better to STFU.


My opinion, disc road/cyclo bikes aren't stupid, but definitely not necessary, it's nice to have, but not necessary. Most people are served fine with cantis/v's, going the extra step with disc provides better modulation, longer wearing pads, no rim to replace, and better stopping in wet and mud.

It took me 10 minutes to dial in my BB7 Road, installation is not harder than cantis, I would dare to say it's easier, follow the instruction Avid provided and it's foolproof.

I just switched from Tiagra to Veloce brifters. The brake is WAY more sharp. Allthough I am not sure if its because of the lever, or because during the change I adjusted where the brake is clamping the cable. Not that there was ever any free place in the cable, but I always adjusted it with the red knobs.
Does anybody have inline barrel adjusters on there BB7's?
Btw Lov'in the Veloce brifters! Way cleaner, Upshift the entire casette in one shift, hidden shift cables, no idiot gauges that I never really did understand.

LOL. An ignorant comment no?

Here's something that is useful to keep in mind when making opinions about almost every products out there:

Try it out before you say anything about it, then make your opinion. If you have no constructive opinion, better to STFU.


My opinion, disc road/cyclo bikes aren't stupid, but definitely not necessary, it's nice to have, but not necessary. Most people are served fine with cantis/v's, going the extra step with disc provides better modulation, longer wearing pads, no rim to replace, and better stopping in wet and mud.

It took me 10 minutes to dial in my BB7 Road, installation is not harder than cantis, I would dare to say it's easier, follow the instruction Avid provided and it's foolproof.


umm, disk brakes on cx bikes ARE completely stupid


1) not legal in UCI races. I know most racers are not going to a UCI but when there is a big event
you won't be able to attend with your bike

2) CX racing there is a HUGE chance of getting caught in the first lap scrums in the corners and banging
your bike up against someone else. an unhoned/filed disk can slice the crap out of someone and cause serious harm

very rare, but it -can- happen, and has happened

maybe you race with 10 or 20 people but in my races there are 60 people lined up at the start. those with
discs are in the back and are usually noobs who swap over to canti's eventually


in a general sense discs rule and in CX they would be primo. but they are not safe in a pig pile of bodies I
can tell you that




finally, if your avid mechanicals are spongy you are doing something wrong in the setup. avid bb7 and bb5
can be made to stop on a dime, no spongyness, and no pad rubbing

I just switched from Tiagra to Veloce brifters. The brake is WAY more sharp. Allthough I am not sure if its because of the lever, or because during the change I adjusted where the brake is clamping the cable. Not that there was ever any free place in the cable, but I always adjusted it with the red knobs.
Does anybody have inline barrel adjusters on there BB7's?
Btw Lov'in the Veloce brifters! Way cleaner, Upshift the entire casette in one shift, hidden shift cables, no idiot gauges that I never really did understand.

09 Veloce? I recently just put together a bike with those shift/brake levers, very nice stuff. BB7 doesn't come with inline adjusters, I had to scrum for those.



1) not legal in UCI races. I know most racers are not going to a UCI but when there is a big event
you won't be able to attend with your bike

How many people attend UCI CX races? And how many UCI CX races are in the states each year? This is pretty moot, most disc tabbed CX frames usually come with cantis, people switch to disc because they can and they want to.



2) CX racing there is a HUGE chance of getting caught in the first lap scrums in the corners and banging
your bike up against someone else. an unhoned/filed disk can slice the crap out of someone and cause serious harm

very rare, but it -can- happen, and has happened

maybe you race with 10 or 20 people but in my races there are 60 people lined up at the start. those with
discs are in the back and are usually noobs who swap over to canti's eventually

Yes, so can chainrings and cables. If you have hair on your arm, those get caught in chains as well. Pure CX application, best to go with cantis, I agree, but most people aren't diehard CXers, they are doing it for fun and use the bike far more often in commuting and winter rides.

...
2) CX racing there is a HUGE chance of getting caught in the first lap scrums in the corners and banging
your bike up against someone else. an unhoned/filed disk can slice the crap out of someone and cause serious harm

very rare, but it -can- happen, and has happened ...

ok... links, pictures, articles, or anything to prove this said incident, please.
as with any debate, site your sources.

umm, disk brakes on cx bikes ARE completely stupid


1) not legal in UCI races. I know most racers are not going to a UCI but when there is a big event
you won't be able to attend with your bike

2) CX racing there is a HUGE chance of getting caught in the first lap scrums in the corners and banging
your bike up against someone else. an unhoned/filed disk can slice the crap out of someone and cause serious harm

very rare, but it -can- happen, and has happened

maybe you race with 10 or 20 people but in my races there are 60 people lined up at the start. those with
discs are in the back and are usually noobs who swap over to canti's eventually


in a general sense discs rule and in CX they would be primo. but they are not safe in a pig pile of bodies I
can tell you that

This is the only forum on this website where a large number of people assume that everyone intends to race. In general, people look in the Cyclocross forum for information other than racing. The "Cyclocross Racing" sub-forum is where you should talk about racing.

Quick question...in general, how much weight does a disk brake system add over a canti brake system? I know that's a broad open ended question, but I don't have even the vaguest of ideas.

Quick question...in general, how much weight does a disk brake system add over a canti brake system? I know that's a broad open ended question, but I don't have even the vaguest of ideas.
Avid BB7 road: 329g, 758g total
Avid CR720: 121g, 242g total

That's over a pound right there, with a little bit more for discs from the longer cables and heavier hubs (but you can possibly make an argument for lighter rims).

how come noones come up with hydraulic drop bar compatible discs?

On the bike our shop sells the disc equipped version weighs 1.6 lbs. more. The canti bike uses Avid Shorty 4's with Tiagra hubs and ACE18 rims and the disc bike uses Avid BB7RD's with OEM hubs and WTB SXC24 rims. The disc version retails for $160 more also. I know people that have spent a lot more than $160 to drop 1.6 lbs. of weight from their bikes particularly at the wheels.

how come noones come up with hydraulic drop bar compatible discs?

They have - Magura used to do a HS-22/Julie compatible, low pressure, aero type, road brake lever. Apparently, poor sales forced them to drop that from their line-up.

There's also a one off, custom hydraulic brifter out there on the prototype road bike with dual discs on the front.

The reason you don't see competitive crossers with disks is that they don't need them. You don't need to stop in a race, only scrub off some speed before a barrier or whatever. If I was building a commuter and I lived in an area with weather (unlike CA) I would have disks but for a race bike, give me cantis.

disc brakes on cx or road bikes is just stupid to begin with

not all of us race our cx bikes. I'm strictly a commuter, and dealing with cagers in rush-hour traffic on rainy days there should be no other option than disc brakes. I will never use anything besides disc brakes again.