Customer Reviews

Avid BB7 MTB Mechanical Bicycle Disc Brake (203mm, Graphite, Front or Rear)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have had Avid cantilever brakes and switched to the disk brakes. WOW, I realize why all bike now come with disc brakes. If you are doing an upgrade on your bike and switching to BB7 brakes you will find it easy to do. BB7 are the mechanical brakes and AVID Juicy are the hydrolic. Much more pricey. The BB7 is smooth running and I'm sure you'll like it. I have hayes disc brakes on one of my other bikes and the BB7 works just as great. This brake is great for the price.

Enjoy the ride and keep the round side down.

I've been using Avid mechanical disc brakes since nearly the day they were first sold. I checked back, and see I posted my original review on MTBR back in November 2000, and I've been riding them consistently since.

The Avid Mechs have gone through two redesigns in that time, and have gotten a few grams heavier and are now made of a 2-piece bolt-together construction, but I've used all three iterations and they're non-distinguishable in setup or operation.

There is often a "cable vs. hydraulic" debate on mountain biking forums, and my answer is this: Avid's mechs are a heavier than the lightest hydraulic units (by a hundred grams or so), and require a bit more attention to set up and maintain (most hydros are self-adjusting and feature few setup options), but in turn you get fully tunable and reliable brake that can be fixed on the trail and doesn't rely on hydro fluid, bleeding or anything outer than basic wrenching to keep working drag-free.

That's not to knock hydraulic brakes, as there are shining stars and dogs in that category. But it boils down to what you want to maintain at your house and in the field.

Avid Mechs:

+ Offer multiple adjustments: Levers adjust modulation, ala Avid's "Speed Dial" and Shimano's "Servo Wave" adjustents. Offer "bite point" adjustment via the inboard pad knob (tool-less on-trail adjustment). Provide for additional modulation / reach adjustment via the outboard pad knob. Spring / lever resistance adjustment via the return spring set screw adjustment in the caliper body.

+ Easy to center without shims by Avid's "CPS" system consisting of concave/convex washers between the caliper body and the disc brake mount.

+ Anti-rub due to the manually adjustable pad adjustment knobs.

+ Very simple maintenance and on-the-trail cable replacement; no bleeding.

The downsides are:

- No auto adjustment: you must manually adjust for pad wear by dialing the pad adjustment knobs in every few hours of riding (depending, of course, on how much braking you've been doing).

- The fact that there are so many adjustments, these are not a "install and forget" brake -- you must make yourself aware of all the different parameters the Avid mechs are capable of, and know how to tune them. They can be as "on/off" or "modulated" as you want them (especially with the various rotor sizes available), but they are not at all like most hydro units which offer zero or few adjustments and behave only as the designers intended them.

- A bit of extra weight compared to the lighter hydro offerings.

I've run Avid BBDB's / BB7's with everything from 160mm rotors on my wife's bike, to 203185 on my cargo bike, to 220mm rotors on my mountain tandem. Rotor compatibility is good, even with off-brand rotor/adapter sizes from Rohloff, Hayes, Hope and Formula. The calipers are the same, front or rear, the only difference being the adapter they're mounted to. These current "Graphite" editions mount directly to post-mount forks to fit 160mm rotors.

Install is literally a 10 minute affair once you've got a handle on what needs to be done. Mine are all run with full length cable housing and I'd challenge anyone to a "lever squeeze test" to detect the difference between a well-setup Avid cable brake versus their choice of hydraulic.

Again, this isn't to imply that these are better brakes than your choice of hydro units, but simply an equivalent option that doesn't involve hydraulic fluid and that gives an unmatched wealth of adjustment and tuning opportunities. Highly recommended, especially to the mechanically inclined.

I "downgraded" to mechanicals and am really happy with these. Well made and super easy to install.

I had brakes before? The V brakes on my Trek were HORRIBLE compared to this!

I was a bit leary since they seem so reasonably priced compared to hydraulics but I cant be happier.

There was a video on Youtube that also helped with the install and it couldnt be easier!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Probably the best value disc brake you can get! There's enough information out there on how great these are. Careful if you get the 203mm, you might just fly over your bars a few times!

They are PITA to align though, so be prepared for some frustration if you haven't done it before!

When I first got my mongoose bike, I had to figure out the promax disc brake system (to tune it).I did not have any experience with disc brakes. But these were never extremely effective. They could not lock the wheel with me on the bike(I am not a big/heavy guy). I kept reading online that these were the lowest quality breaks out there. As the front brake pad got worn out, I figured it was a good time to replace the entire disc brake assembly. Looking online at prices and models I found a good deal here and took the plunge. (Other option was a BB5)

I don't consider myself an extremely skilled bike mechanic. I had previously replaced the rear derailleur on my old bicycle a few years ago. But I had never actually installed disc brakes before. But the process seemed fairly straightforward. specially after watching a detailed video on youtube. What wasn't very straight forward was figuring out that the disc was out of true. So for a while I rode around with the calipers much further apart than optimal. The brakes were still extremely effective, I would just have to pull the lever a little more. But as soon as the pads came in contact with the disc, the front wheel would lock no matter how fast I was going.

About true-ing the disc, A lot of people on bike forums have said that the disc is not necessarily always perfectly straight. And the local bike shop mechanic also looked at my front wheel and immediately said that the disc itself would need to be trued. He got it to be pretty straight but he said there were limits to how perfect I could get it to be. So I have brought in the pads closer and am happier.

I would definitely buy another for the rear wheel.

I bought these to replace a front shimano disc brake that came with my bike. The difference is awesome going from the 160mm to the 203mm rotor and now I can actually do a stoppie. When installing make sure to get the pads aligned properly or you will get alot of noise like I did but that shouldnt matter since you read the directions before putting your new brakes on right? Overall I am competely satisfied and love these brakes, however they sometimes make some noise when they get wet but a few stops and they fine.

The Avid BB7 MTB Mechanical Bicycle Disc Brake (160mm, Graphite,

Rear) is a bit pricey, when you think of it, and the simplicity

of the design and manufacturing process. At the same time, since

these are niche-items, for niche-market mountain bikes, the low

sales volume and modest sales revenue can only be made up by

higher prices per item.

The ease of installation is represented by the the fact that

it's a 10 to 15 min job, at most, to install this brake, and

remove the pre-existing disk brake. In my particular case, I

have a Fuji Nevada MTB bike, from some years ago, with Pro-Max

disk breakes.

The Promax coil just deteriorated beyond usefulness, after 1

rough winter going to work and back, in anywhere between -30 to

-5 Celsius temperatures, often with 1 to 2 feet high of freshly

packed snow, or ice for 30 minutes travel, in each direction, 5

times per week, for 5 months at least.

The Promax wire rusted out as well as the sheath protecting it.

Therefore, I had to replace the sheath, and the wire with a stainless

one. The real key, was this product.

This item, Avid BB7 MTB disk brake is a great, working

replacement. Its ruggedness has yet to be tested in hard weather

conditions, however. It seems to be robust, with the exception

of 2 plastic adjusting rings which may or may not hold up in the

aforementioned cold.

There are unneeded accessories, such as screws, and oversized

mounting disk, for example, in the package.

Overall, satisfied with this replacement part.

After a long struggle and finally realizing my pointless hatred for disc brakes (I am still a lover of V's)I cracked when I had to replace a front wheel. I got a killer deal on an XT hub with disc and jumped on board for a front disc. These BB7's get great reviews so I tried it out. I had some initial trouble with a weak allen bolt (stripped before 20 pounds of torque!) but other than that easy install and after one ride around the block, pretty quiet (not as quiet as my V's) and very nice. More modulation here and I can lock them up with very little effort. I still have my V on the back and we'll see how long that lasts. Great brake and kinda wish I would've seen the light a little earlier.