frogmeetcog

I am converting my modernish roadbike to use diskbrakes, to the eventual end of making it an Xtracycle.
It came with a flat bar and caliper brakes, but the frame has proved surprisingly resiliant, i.e. surviving my own clumsiness and stupidity while riding it.
Anywho, it now sports a fork with disktabs, a beefy front wheel with a Hayes MX ONE caliper squeezing a 160mm rotor, and dropbars with Tektro RL520 brakelevers.
I am new to using diskbrakes, and I managed to put everything together functionally... cleaned the rotor and pads with Isopropanol with rubber gloves on, followed the instructions for adjustment on Park's site... and yet they are not terribly effective.
To my knowledge, linear pull brakes have the same mechanical advantage as cableactuated disk brakes, and these levers are designed for linearpulls, so... why can't I adjust them right?
Either the pads rub the rotor or the lever bottoms out against the handlebar.
GRRRR.

Perhaps I shall try the trick of baking the pads in the toasteroven.
ANY IDEAS BEFORE I DO THAT?

tatfiend 

No experience with the Hayes but I have long read that the Avid BB5 and BB7 were by far the most effective mechanical disc brakes on the market. I have a Swobo Dixon that came with a BB5 front and BB7 rear discs and both are working fine for me.

The reported effectiveness of other mechanical discs has not been nearly as good.

operator

The BB7's are slightly better from a mechanical standpoint - much easier to adjust.

cobba

Those are really useful comments when he has the MX-1 installed.
Where was he asking about BB5's or BB7's?

MX-1 Instalation & Service Guide: https://www.hayesdiscbrake.com/pdf/MX-1Install45-15216D4LangEnglish.pdf

MX-1's if properly adjusted have a similar power to the BB7's, they both have similar sized pads.
MX-1's are basically the same as BB5's to tune/adjust but the MX-1 is a more powerful brake.
MX-1's don't have an outboard pad adjuster like the BB7 has, but you can tune/adjust the outboard pad with the cable barrel adjusters on the brake lever and brake calliper.

Not all brakes are installed and adjusted properly plus some riders don't do any maintenance or tuning on them, this will account for a lot of bad reports and reviews that you see.

Why have a more powerful brake on the rear wheel?

DannoXYZ 

Linear-pull levers give you less mechanical-leverage than other types of levers. How much lever-travel do you have before the calipers engage? And how much travel do you have by the time the front tyre locks up?

Try some road aero-levers for sidepull/dual-pivot brakes.

Wordbiker

Setup is crucial for disc brake effectiveness...and unfortunately requires some shop grade tools.


I'd call around and see if any local shops have disc tab facing and rotor truing tools. As cobba said, the MX1 is an adequate and powerful brake when properly aligned and adjusted with all compatible parts. Facing and truing will ensure everything is in perfect plane, and the best part is you'll only have to face it once. Truing the rotor will be an occasional maintenance item...if ever.

I'd also put one vote against the BB5's. The pads are much smaller than the BB7 and I smoked mine on a relatively mild descent. Once you add the weight of an Xtracycle...you'll want the bigger pads.

BearSquirrel

You have the wrong mechnical advantage. Get an Avid BB7 ROAD VERSION.