I already described it in detail in my previous message

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post14141499

If you are not dialing-out the initial "wobble" of the BB7's actuator and pads, you are wasting a portion of the brake lever travel (creating a "dead zone" on the brake lever) and, in general case, have to adjust the pads farther apart than they really have to be to avoid dragging.

As I said before, the brakes will work well without pre-tensioning. However, pre-tensioning makes them much more consistent and responsive.

I find that I have more dexterity and control when my fingers are extended. Maximizing the amount of force you can squeeze the lever with might be best with a closed fist but braking isn't only about raw power.

Even with '6 finger' levers, I set them to engage nearly immediately. I miss the big ol' levers.

I understand now. You're saying that the pads will spread apart slightly before pinching the rotor. I'm willing to bet that this is much more pronounced in the BB5s than the BB7s(?). I say that because pre-tensioning the arm is much more critical for the BB5s.

I'll have to take a closer look at this when I get home. Perhaps I can make my BB7s operate even better! As well, I might be able to better remove brake lever....dead zone in the BB5s now that I understand this better.

Thank you.

I've tried early- and late-engagement setups. I prefer the latter. If something else works for you, great.

This part of the thread has been very enlightening for me. I had a situation a while ago where I had recently tightened up my pad adjustment and I was getting a tiny bit of scraping but it went away when I pulled the lever slightly. I thought I must have been imagining it. Now I know. FWIW, that was with BB7's.

My opinion on BB5's is that when it come time to replace the pads, use it as an excuse to upgrade to BB7's. The BB5's are a complete pain to get working well.

Unless I missed something... it took 43 posts for this to get mentioned?

With my BB5 and BB7 bikes, proper alignment turned them from "okay" to "really, really good". It takes all of five minutes to do, too.

The hardest thing about setting up discs is truing the rotor, and that's not even very hard, either.

I've gone late-engagment recently too, after years of setting up my brakes to engage within 1-2 mm of lever travel. I tried it when I read an argument that your hands are stronger partially contracted than fully extended. Not sure how much that matters, given that modern brakes can slow a bike down plenty w/o reefing on the levers. What I like about it is that nowadays I more often find myself going 35+ mph downhill, in the drops, and having my hands wrapped around the bars with levers gripped feels more controlled to me than with my fingers splayed out.

Good thread here, it's nide to read aobut other's experiences with discs, which are still kind of new to me.

Ever hear of studded tires?

So I finished the Disc Trucker yesterday and I rode it to work today. In the morning the brakes felt soft and weak for a few miles. By the time I got to work, about 8 miles, I was able to lock my rear wheel. And with both brakes I have to brace myself or I'll probably go OTB, or even possibly lock both wheels (bad juju). And this is a heavy beast.

You using BB7's on that bike?

Sorry for possibly bringing this thing back from the dead, but I recently installed some TRP CX-9s on my new bike, and WOW. Great modulation. I can feather as light as I like, but I can also keep going and without a supreme amount of effort (from the hoods) I can lock up the rear wheel or scare myself with the front. I can finally break strongly with my left hand while downshifting with my right. These are exactly what I was looking for with disc brakes. They do diminish a bit in the rain, but they are always powerful. And they don't make a sound. The pads are about 2 mm from the rim, so I had better keep my wheel super true, but other than that they are great.

They also self-adjust and if you descend as much as I do that's important.