Roadies with disc brakes

[mitchy_]

my BB7's were without noise. (i got a little bit of rotor "ting" when mashing it out of the saddle, usually when the brakes were hot.. but that's likely the carbon fork flexing and hot, warped rotors.

apart from that, no sounds. the CPS washers are a pain in the ass to setup, but when done right they are pretty bloody good.

i found most of the sounds i did experience came down to rotor choice. anything with large cut-outs feels sponge and gives a pulsating feel/sound, the pads must dip into the openings.
avid HS1's are my favourite rotors. have run them on my last 5 disc braked bikes with a myriad of different brand calipers and will continue to do so.
ticks all the boxes in terms of price, weight, feel, and look good too.

[Mulger bill]

Never had completely silent BB7Rs. If well set up there's little noise in running and a bit of a light scrapy whir under brakes. Then it rains and you realise the 'orrible noise is your trade off for the ability to rapidly decelerate. It also cuts nicely into the consciousness of most iPeds more interested in getting out of the rain than looking before they dart onto the road.

[singlespeedscott]

Mine were fine once they were warm. However on a cold winters morning ride or a ride on a track with a bit of dew around and they would squeal like a pig. Very annoying and embarrassing IMO. I couldn't wait to get rid of them. My old Juicy 7's displayed a similar habit but no where near as bad as the BB7's. Moving to the XT ice tech's was a revaluation in power, modulation and the blissful lack of noise.

[Mafra]

I've been running the Hy/Rd on my PlanetX CX rig for a bit over 12 months.

The stock pads are reasonably soft and I managed to wear them down in under a 1000km of cx racing (making up the numbers), commuting and a bit of single track here and there.

The self adjustment is very effective and matched to my SRAM rival brifters they've been responsive and more than adequately powerful.
There was more than enough power to throw my 90kg over the bars when i had to avoid a car that pulled out in front of me, re-learnt the "too much front brake is a problem" lesson that day.

I recently upgraded to Yokozuna cables, they've helped with modulation and consistency of result.

My only other experience of cable actuated disc has been on a low end mtb - I haven't used the BB7s to compare.
When i bought them, the SRAM hydros had been announced but were not yet available - cost wise they were much closer to my budget than a full S700 or 11sp setup considering I already had 10sp shifters.

i have no doubt the SRAM or Shimano hydro are a better proposition but at a much higher price, especialy considering the need to purchase brifters as well as calipers +/- Di2.
If you are simply looking to replace an existing cable caliper, they're a worthwhile upgrade.

[mitchy_]

I've been running the Hy/Rd on my PlanetX CX rig for a bit over 12 months.

The stock pads are reasonably soft and I managed to wear them down in under a 1000km of cx racing (making up the numbers), commuting and a bit of single track here and there.

The self adjustment is very effective and matched to my SRAM rival brifters they've been responsive and more than adequately powerful.
There was more than enough power to throw my 90kg over the bars when i had to avoid a car that pulled out in front of me, re-learnt the "too much front brake is a problem" lesson that day.

I recently upgraded to Yokozuna cables, they've helped with modulation and consistency of result.

My only other experience of cable actuated disc has been on a low end mtb - I haven't used the BB7s to compare.
When i bought them, the SRAM hydros had been announced but were not yet available - cost wise they were much closer to my budget than a full S700 or 11sp setup considering I already had 10sp shifters.

i have no doubt the SRAM or Shimano hydro are a better proposition but at a much higher price, especialy considering the need to purchase brifters as well as calipers +/- Di2.
If you are simply looking to replace an existing cable caliper, they're a worthwhile upgrade.

Sram offer a 10spd setup with the S700 package. as far as i'm aware sram's pricing is also shifter, brake and rotor. so not TOO offensive.

[m@]

In looking around at various STI compatible discs, i've noticed a common theme with BB7s is noise, what do the BB7 users here think?

Similar to above posts - noisy (squeal) in the wet and sometimes when cold, but not too bad otherwise bar a little rub when out of the saddle or hot.

I've been running the Hy/Rd on my PlanetX CX rig for a bit over 12 months.

Great info, thanks for posting! I've read a few reports that there's a lot of lever throw - including complaints of the levers bottoming out on the bars - any comments on that front? I prefer to avoid too much 'free stroke' and even find the XTs on my MTB have a bit much movement before engagement for my liking...

[Mafra]

Sram offer a 10spd setup with the S700 package. as far as i'm aware sram's pricing is also shifter, brake and rotor. so not TOO offensive.

Yah, $500 per end on c r c vs $150- suspect for most people that's more of a new build sort of investment rather than a discrete upgrade from BB7s - but not for everyone
I would also think too that spending that if spending that much, a drivetrain upgrade is only an incremental cost also.

I've read a few reports that there's a lot of lever throw - including complaints of the levers bottoming out on the bars - any comments on that front?

I would agree with this, I've managed to get most of it out of my setup, but definitely under hard braking you're all the way down to the bars.
Now that i've bled the brakes on my MTb, i'm probably more likely to notice it - personal preference is going to come into it.

M

[mitchy_]

Sram offer a 10spd setup with the S700 package. as far as i'm aware sram's pricing is also shifter, brake and rotor. so not TOO offensive.

Yah, $500 per end on c r c vs $150- suspect for most people that's more of a new build sort of investment rather than a discrete upgrade from BB7s - but not for everyone
I would also think too that spending that if spending that much, a drivetrain upgrade is only an incremental cost also.

you can get BB7 brakes AND shifters for $150?

yes the S700 setup is $500 per end, but that is shifter and brake.
to buy the equivalent force shifters and bb7 brakes you're looking at ~$280 each end. clearly more expensive... but you gotta pay to bleeding edge tax to have the latest gear.

[silentbutdeadly]

you can get BB7 brakes AND shifters for $150?

You can come close per end if you use Genavelle/Retroshift in combo with bb7 (something I'm considering). And you can certainly do it with flat bar with hydro brakes.

So perhaps we could say that to get hydro brakes on road bikes at the moment, one must pay the 'Curly Bar Tax'.

[mitchy_]

you can get BB7 brakes AND shifters for $150?

You can come close per end if you use Genavelle/Retroshift in combo with bb7 (something I'm considering). And you can certainly do it with flat bar with hydro brakes.

So perhaps we could say that to get hydro brakes on road bikes at the moment, one must pay the 'Curly Bar Tax'.

this thread is about disc road bikes, i dont think anyone is talking flat bar roadies as any mountain bike setup will work with them.

you can also get bb5's or some other cheap and nasty disc brakes cheaply too. i'm comparing like for like here. (and personally i hate the retroshift style shifters)
S700 shifters are basically force shifters and the brakes are going to be better than the likes of BB7/Spyre/Hy'Rd's...

[baabaa]

bb7s in some form or another have been around for 15 years. They came about with the use on drop bar levers as a bit of a botch job that kinda works. The best way to get them to work well, is to forget about brifters and fit them with dedicated brake levers. I use bar end shifters and like them but if you don’t this is why you would use retroshift. Asking bb7s to work with current 11 speed brifters and then work well is really too big a request for a 15yo slightly modified product. bb7s are still a good option for commuting and touring but I don’t see the need for big braking discs in cx as you just don’t get to go that fast.
The new hydro stuff from shimano and sram for real road bike usage will still have teething problems and I am happy to wait for them to get it right. The prices will also come down pretty quick. My guess is “the watch this space” is in the new longer distance gravel type bikes like this from niner http://www.ninerbikes.com/RLT9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, both shim n sram will be looking around longer term high volume products which are wireless or electric shifting so that the shift plus lever reach issues are separated . Even better will be when someone like Hope comes out with full hydro system but then again, I doubt I will be tempted to go discs on the road/ sportive bike as the one I have now stops and starts and shifts way above my real needs and wants and if you even slightly bingle a road bike hydro shifter on tar it would be a very expense chuck away.

[silentbutdeadly]

S700 shifters are basically force shifters and the brakes are going to be better than the likes of BB7/Spyre/Hy'Rd's...

No question. But will it be $300 better?

But the cost is just so eyewatering and sends the entry price for a hydro disc roadie/CX into stupid territory...and outside the new brifter it's all established tech. I just think it's a shame...