Pre 2006 manufactured road BB7's reportedly had weak return springs. This is fixed by adding a 5/8"x3/4" compression spring inline just upstream from the pinch bolt.

I have f/r 203mm road BB7's with Ultegras on my road touring bike and f/r 203/160mm mountain BB7's with XT v-brake / shift levers on my mountain touring bike. The former were a bit tricky to set up, mostly because my bike mechanic mentors kept telling me that I needed Travel Agents and I consequently just didn't have faith that there was a sweet spot of perfect operation without them or some other work around - see first paragraph.

The differences in braking between the two versions of BB7's after both are properly set up is impossible to discern because of all the other components / parts on the bikes. The road versions give you the option of converting to STI in the future.