dynaryder

Just curious,how often do you use your barrel adjusters to adjust the brakes? Once my cables are stretched in,I only use them for fine tuning lever feel,never for adjusting the pads. I found that if I got lazy and just used the lever adjuster instead of the pad adjuster knobs,my pads def wore funny.

The Shimano 495's on my Safari have been through many winters of salt with only one issue. The bolt that holds the pads in position corroded and snapped off on the rear caliper,so I can no longer change pads. I still prefer BB7's because I don't need tools to adjust or replace the pads. All of this is moot now however since I retired. I can now use bike share to get around and to work in the winter,so I just run their bikes through the salt.

Thanks,but nobody asked about drums. I've had an opportunity to try drums on a couple bikes at the shop. Completely underwhelmed by their power and feel. Would never own a set. I hate to say it,but I think I actually prefer Roller brakes. At least with dog leg levers they have decent feel to them.

Leisesturm

This. The BB7's on our tandem. Are fine brakes, but we rode for a full season with them installed incorrectly. That's right, the dealers fault. If they are that difficult for dealers to figure out... ... so I've had one eye on the hydraulics waiting for the technology to mature. I may just jump ship early thanks to these hybrid HY/RD's. Reviews I've seen like them.

dscheidt

Never. I may have when I installed the cables, I may not have, I don't remember. But pad adjustment is via the knobs.

Nightdiver

I've heard all manner of ignorance spout from the mouths of dealers so I'm not sure I'd use their incompetence as a litmus test for the ability of a part.

Andy_K 

I've used BB5, BB7, Tektro Lyra, TRP Spyre and TRP Hy/Rd. Of these, the Hy/Rd's are far and away my favorite. I only used the Spyres for one ride on a rented bike, and I felt like something was wrong with the setup. They were good, but not amazing. You could probably convince me that properly setup they are nearly as good as the Hy/Rds. The Hy/Rds are not amazing compared to full hydraulic brakes with flat bar levers, but they perform much better than BB7's and are a good bit more worry-free.

When reading reviews of BB7's, it's worth probing to see if the reviewer is talking about the road or MTN version. The MTN version of the BB7's are excellent. When I used them I never felt the need to explore other options. In my experience, the road version just isn't at that level. I don't know if the cable pull doesn't translate as well or if it's just that the superior leverage of a flat bar lever masks minor short comings, but I was never as happy with the road version as I was with the MTN version. The road version also has an odd quirk where the first bit of cable pull actually moves the pads away from the rotor slightly. I'm not sure why they do that. You can compensate for it with the cable tension, but if you don't you're likely to experience pad scraping that goes away momentarily when you start to pull the brake lever.

PatrickGSR94

I haven't put a ton of miles on my utility bike since I put the MTB BB7 up front, but it's been pretty good so far, especially when used with compressionless brake cable housing like the offerings from Jagwire (not the traditional spiral-wound housing, but with longitudinal wires like shift cable, with a reinforced outer casing and special end caps to prevent housing blowout). The BB7 with traditional brake cable housing felt rather spongy. Compressionless housing was a marked improvement.

Steely Dan

based on the recommendations in this thread, i finally bit the bullet and got some TRP Spyre's for my commuter bike.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

these things were about 8 billion times easier to set-up and adjust than the garbage Avid BB5's that came with my bike.

what a difference quality components make! now, if they'll just stay properly adjusted for more than a week at a time, i'll be a happy man.

fietsbob

Since their dual banger mech should wear both pads equally , an inline cable adjuster

will bring the pads together closer to the disc as the friction material wears thinner, both at once.

chefisaac

I had BB5s too and I hated them!!!! Bought these:

[TABLE="width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD]Shimano XT M785 Pre-Bled Disc Brake Rear[/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Shimano XT M785 Pre-Bled Disc Brake Front[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

My bike is in the shop right now getting them put on!!! I hate BB5's!

Consider hydraulics. They are much much much superior.

Steely Dan

too late. read my most recent post. i went ahead and got some TRP Spyre's.

Hydraulics are very good too, i have a set of hydraulic disc brakes on my winter bike, however:

1. my CX commuter bike has drop bars with both brifters and cross levers, so that set-up kind of lends itself to a mechanical solution.

2. i like to do as much of my own wrenching as possible. i can tinker with most kinds of mechanical brakes and eventually figure them out, but hydraulics intimidate me. when my winter bike was having issues with its hydraulic brakes, i had to take it into the shop for repairs. i didn't like that.

fietsbob

Because HyRd is cable all the way to the brake caliper, If you do have to fuss with them you can do the work at a table ..

and not be bent over the bike.. remove then re install them when You're done.