Originally Posted by hokiefyd

Nice bike, and nice scenery!

Your rear caliper looks to be adjusted at near its full cable travel. That's generally going to result in a pretty heavy brake, and doesn't really have any advantages (that I'm aware of). If you replace the cable and housing, I would adjust it so your caliper is mounted so the outboard pad (the one closest to the outside of the bike) is JUST BARELY clearing the brake rotor (no rub), and then thread the backer for the inboard pad (the one closest to the hub of the bike) in so that it, too, is JUST BARELY clearing the brake rotor (no rub). The activation arm should be all the way relaxed in this position, and the cable completely slack. At that point, you have the least amount of preload on the internal spring in the caliper, and your brake lever pull will be the lightest.

That is, of course, assuming that you have compatible pull ratios on the caliper and lever.

Originally Posted by cobba

Road versions have been around for over 10 years, the MTB versions were always black, the Road versions used to be always silver/platinum.

If you can, ask your friend if the brakes were the original ones that came on the bike when it had flat handlebars.

Originally Posted by Kapusta

Is there are model number anywhere on it?

I’m with cobba in suspecting that you have a MTB version, but extra verification would help.

BB7s are a bit easier to get set up right... but even those take some practice. I’ve used BB7s for almost 18 years, and it took a while to get the art and science down for good setup.

Originally Posted by cobba

Did you see the link I posted for the 2 x BB7 road brakes for $62?

If your front brake is the same as the rear, it's going to end up loosing adjustment and dragging like the rear.

A photo of your front brake would probably show why it's stopping better then the rear brake.