rekon

update: rotor was 180mm he installed a new avid rotor with the correct adapter. I told him I would pay the difference if any. He refused to accept anything for it. Cool shop!

sknhgy 

BB5's only have one adjustment per brake.
I just replaced my bb5's with bb7's. It cost $63 and a couple of easy hours of work because I had to look things up. I highly recommend the upgrade. The bb7's have two adjustments/brake. I never really liked the 5's because they were hard to adjust. With the 7's you can easily adjust both inboard and outboard pad. I don't know why they even make the 5's. My bike is a 26" Rockhopper that I only use on trails.

rekon

Thanks! Did you feel a difference in stopping power?

cobba

What size rotors are on the bike now?

sknhgy 

Oh yes. The bb7's just work better. I wish I had made the upgrade long ago, and it was really easy and satisfying to do.

For $63 I got both calipers and 2 rotors. Off Amazon.

You probably want a torque wrench. I got mine from Nashbar.

cobba

The OP would need the BB7 Road versions, I doubt that you'd find them at that price, you'd probably pay about that much for 1 BB7 Road brake.

huka

Shouldn't you have used road mechanical disc brake instead of MTB one? since you put BB5 on your crossbike I presume you use road bike brifter. Road brake lever has different pulling ratio compare to MTB and BB5 is MTB mec disc brake. Cross functioning between road brifter and MTB brake will result in less effective stopping power

cobba

What makes you think that the OP's BB5 isn't a 'Road' version?

https://www.sram.com/avid/family/bb

huka

Sorry, it was me who didn't up date that BB5 also come with road version. But underlying issue I tried to bring up was whether there weren't compatibility between brake lever vs caliper that made braking power less efficient.

FBinNY 

Leverage/braking is simple math, and easy to under stand. The longer the lever throw, and/or the shorter the shoe travel, the more shoe force against the rim or disc you'll be able get. The rest is a matter of the friction properties.

So start by adjusting the shoes as close to the disc as is acceptable, and which won't drag on a slightly warped disc. Then apply the brake full force (while stationary). Do you have unused lever travel available (space between the lever and handlebar when squeezed). If so, after allowing for some wear, then you might opt for levers with more leverage. Otherwise, you can't more leverage because you don't have enough travel to give up.

BTW- the same rules apply to all mechanical and hydraulic braking systems. It always boils down to the amount of travel needed at the shoe, vs. the amount of travel available at the lever. (that's why they're called levers) The only exception are variable or progressive brake systems, like the roller cam brake, where the leverage ratio varies through the stroke.