BB7 disc: disappointing, why?

[cooperplace]

put an Avid BB7 disc brake on the front of my road bike, 160mm rotor, was v. careful to not get any oil on any parts, have followed adjustment procedure to the letter, but stopping power is v disappointing.

Has the standard pads (sintered), do these take a while to break in?

I guess I can always go up to 185 or 203mm rotor.

To the person who said I would fly over the handlebars: I wish!!

[Nobody]

Ride up the biggest hill you can find. Take a break at the top so you can concentrate for the descent. Ride down fairly fast then grab a handful (carefully). Don't stop completely, repeat on the way down. By the bottom they should be better. They may seem sticky and squeal to start with, but they should settle down. Worked for me.

Having said that they are going to pull up like V brakes in the dry. If you really want to go OTB with one finger, get hydros. I don't believe they are necessary though, especially off road.

[cooperplace]

OK, thanks, I'll give it a go.

[}SkOrPn--7]

Like Nobody says it may even take a little longer but I much prefer to bed the pads in on normal riding conditions over a few days rather than artificial force bed in. Also depending on bike many riders use 185/203mm rotors on the front (Providing fork can handle the stress) and 160mm on the rear for greater pulling up and control so food for thought for you. If you changed over the cables this will also make brakes feel funny until the cable has stretched and you have adjusted this cable break in period as well. When all is bedded in the brakes will soon bite so don't worry you haven't got a new set of lemons.

[Mulger bill]

Give 'em time to bed in, they'll come good. The ones on me Kona were average to start out with (160mm) Now the only thing better is the Juicy7s on me MTB.
I dunno about Nobodys idea, I just drag the brakes while pedalling every now and then. Works for me.

[MountGower]

My BB7s worked well pretty much straight out of the box and are more powerful than my XT hydraulic brakes.

Are you sure you are using road calipers and road levers? MTB calipers with road levers will not stop the bike.

[Uncle Grumpy]

Just to add to the mix...

Make sure you've got the pads wound in close to the rotor too.

Grumps

[baabaa]

Yup.
Give em time and maybe the odd squirt from your water bottle when you are riding.
Once they bed in you will find 160 mm is plenty for both front and back on a road bike.

[master6]

I have never ridden anything except a road bike, so this question is from a position of ignorance on my part, not crticism.
Why do you want disc brakes on a road bike?

[cooperplace]

Yup.
Give em time and maybe the odd squirt from your water bottle when you are riding.
Once they bed in you will find 160 mm is plenty for both front and back on a road bike.

squirt with water?? have you found they bed in more quickly that way?

[cooperplace]

I have never ridden anything except a road bike, so this question is from a position of ignorance on my part, not crticism.
Why do you want disc brakes on a road bike?

The question to me is why not? Disc brakes are clearly able to provide stronger braking than rim brakes, and shouldn't we all have the best brakes possible?

[Lark2004]

I hope your forks are well made.....

[MountGower]

Where did you find that one Andrew? bustedsteel.com?

[baabaa]

squirt with water?? have you found they bed in more quickly that way?
Yes, it just seems to wash out the pad dust and helps take the "shine" off the disc surface.
Same sort of thing with rim brakes but cause they are away from the road grime helps to give them a bit of a help.

BB7/ discs on a road bike?
Not really,more CX and touring bikes, BUT you can expect to see major developments in dics for road bike now that cyclocross racers can use discs....

[Nobody]

Why do you want disc brakes on a road bike?

Primarily for wet weather braking, especially in emergency braking where you can't afford to wait for the rim to dry before it works.

[master6]

I have never ridden anything except a road bike, so this question is from a position of ignorance on my part, not crticism.
Why do you want disc brakes on a road bike?

The question to me is why not? Disc brakes are clearly able to provide stronger braking than rim brakes, and shouldn't we all have the best brakes possible?

Sorry, I should have mentioned that my existing rim brakes can overpower my tyre grip , and I have never had any form of brake fade. I also notice that the riders in TDF do not use disc brakes.

In view of the forgoing, I am still at a loss to understand (not arguing) the need for disc brakes on a road bike.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Edit:- thanks nobody, just noticed your advice re wet weather; sounds reasonable.

[Nobody]

Where did you find that one Andrew? bustedsteel.com?

Actually that would be called bentsteel.com. Only carbon busts, the metals generally bend on sudden impact. That is the whole point of the bustedcarbon site.

[Mulger bill]

Why do you want disc brakes on a road bike?

Primarily for wet weather braking, especially in emergency braking where you can't afford to wait for the rim to dry before it works.

+1 One really scary incident commuting on me roadie in the rain had me lusting after me current commuter.

[Uncle Grumpy]

I'd be too scared to use discs on skinny tyres on wet bitumen. I reckon I'd hit them in a panic stop and just lock up and keep sliding without decellerating.

That's my fear, whether it's justified or not I don't know and I'd be keen to hear what others who have used road discs have to say about modulation and power.

I've used discs on MTBs for years, including a sweet set of Hope 4 pots with 203mm rotors, those puppies pull you up so hard you feel your face peeling off but I do run 2.5" tyres on that bike.

Grumps

[Mulger bill]

I came from Avid Juicy7s on me MTB to calipers on me roadie to BB7s on me commuter Unk. Much prefer the effortless power and excellent modulation from the discs.
It doesn't take long to get the feel. I'm just glad me 'Dale roadie is so much lighter than me 'muter or MTB, less mass to decelerate.

Shaun

[jules21]

bit OT, but i have juicy 5 160s on a deore disc and have noticed that they make a squelching sound. braking performance doesn't seem to be affected. anyone know what it is/ worth fixing?

[cooperplace]

I have never ridden anything except a road bike, so this question is from a position of ignorance on my part, not crticism.
Why do you want disc brakes on a road bike?

The question to me is why not? Disc brakes are clearly able to provide stronger braking than rim brakes, and shouldn't we all have the best brakes possible?

Sorry, I should have mentioned that my existing rim brakes can overpower my tyre grip , and I have never had any form of brake fade. I also notice that the riders in TDF do not use disc brakes.

In view of the forgoing, I am still at a loss to understand (not arguing) the need for disc brakes on a road bike.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Edit:- thanks nobody, just noticed your advice re wet weather; sounds reasonable.

Hi, it's not about whether you can overpower the your tyre grip, it's about whether _I_ can overpower _my_ tyre grip. And I definitely can't, not when my hands are up on the hoods, which is where they are much of the time. And the wet weather use is obvious.

I think discs are the way of the future for road bikes.

[cooperplace]

I hope your forks are well made.....

that is fascinating, and obviously scary. We would all be very grateful if you could tell us more about that picture: eg. what brand fork is it? and how did it happen? is it your fork? what sort of surface was the bike on at the time? anyhting you might know about it.

thanks

[Nobody]

I hope your forks are well made.....

that is fascinating, and obviously scary. We would all be very grateful if you could tell us more about that picture: eg. what brand fork is it? and how did it happen? is it your fork? what sort of surface was the bike on at the time? anyhting you might know about it.

thanks

http://www.rodbikes.com/articles/brakes.html

[trailgumby]

Not really,more CX and touring bikes, BUT you can expect to see major developments in dics for road bike now that cyclocross racers can use discs....

When did that come into being? The impression I had was they were still officially off-limits and with no prospect of it changing in the near future?

An excellent development - if anybody needs them, it's CXers.