Guinessisgoodforyou
rBotM Winner
I owned 3 bikes with discs. I sold all, not a lover, though the power and lack of rim wear is undeniable.
Trp Spykes vs bb7
- Thread starter Imlach
- Start date
Pizza cutters on bike is a strange concept in't it? The only fad I agree with is bottle openers on bikes. I reckon you'd agree, nice bottle of Guinness export to start the ride and end the ride
Guinessisgoodforyou
rBotM Winner
Yes indeed. I like the porter too when I can get it.
Betsy
Old School Grand Master
I've ran BB7's on and off, i quite like them, you can adjust them with your eyes closed, just a click of the wheel every now and again, they're almost maintinence free so i can understand the appeal for bikepackers, I sold a minty set a few months ago, they fetched good money!
More love for the bb7 as I bought the TRP... Where's my echo chamber when I need it? Appreciate the input and if the TRP don't work out I'll just drink until it braking becomes an afterthought
A bit of an offtopic, but still to do with disk brakes...
I've tried a gravel bike and I liked it. A lot. I couldn't stop riding it. Literally. Couldn't stop. No stopping power in them dang disk brakes.
I've had disks on flat-bar MTBs and on drop bar bikes. I really don't understand why a 20-year-old clapped out Hayes MX-1 with Chinese pads works with mtb brakes (works OK, nothing to write home about & I wouldn't use it for downhill, and that's after 40 minutes of swearing while trying to set it up). Yet, BB7r or spyres, top-of-the-line calipers, specifically designed for road pull levers are bloody useless. 2-3hours of fannying with them (per caliper!) to get the bike into a just about barely acceptable condition. And if they get wet, they stop providing whatever miserable excuse for speed modulation they had when dry. Tried different pads, tried different cables, tried different road levers. No luck.
I found spyres to be marginally better than BB7, but both don't even live up to a wet rim brake. Spyres have lost their bite after about 7-8k miles (still some pad material left).
I still really seem to like how my chinercarbon gravel frameset rides, so I need to decide whether to use MTB-pull levers with some MTB disk caliper (RL520 anyone? Worth buying and combining with a bar-end shifter?) or install extra-extra long drop calipers into the presumably mudguard mounting holes drilled in the carbon frameset (Weinmans or something modern with ~75mm drop) and forever forgetting the rotten idea of a disk brake on a bike. The rim brake option has two issues: 1 is that I'll need to build a new wheelset, 2 is that I'll be installing nutted callipers into chinercarbon fork & frame. The carbon seatstay bridge is particularly worrying - is it just a recipe for cracking a carbon frame?
I am a bit surprised to read folks are not getting decent performance with MTB-style brakes. Are we talking "not quite as good as hydros during an enduro race" or are we talking "doesn't even stop the bike from 16mph over 15 meters?
I've tried a gravel bike and I liked it. A lot. I couldn't stop riding it. Literally. Couldn't stop. No stopping power in them dang disk brakes.
I've had disks on flat-bar MTBs and on drop bar bikes. I really don't understand why a 20-year-old clapped out Hayes MX-1 with Chinese pads works with mtb brakes (works OK, nothing to write home about & I wouldn't use it for downhill, and that's after 40 minutes of swearing while trying to set it up). Yet, BB7r or spyres, top-of-the-line calipers, specifically designed for road pull levers are bloody useless. 2-3hours of fannying with them (per caliper!) to get the bike into a just about barely acceptable condition. And if they get wet, they stop providing whatever miserable excuse for speed modulation they had when dry. Tried different pads, tried different cables, tried different road levers. No luck.
I found spyres to be marginally better than BB7, but both don't even live up to a wet rim brake. Spyres have lost their bite after about 7-8k miles (still some pad material left).
I still really seem to like how my chinercarbon gravel frameset rides, so I need to decide whether to use MTB-pull levers with some MTB disk caliper (RL520 anyone? Worth buying and combining with a bar-end shifter?) or install extra-extra long drop calipers into the presumably mudguard mounting holes drilled in the carbon frameset (Weinmans or something modern with ~75mm drop) and forever forgetting the rotten idea of a disk brake on a bike. The rim brake option has two issues: 1 is that I'll need to build a new wheelset, 2 is that I'll be installing nutted callipers into chinercarbon fork & frame. The carbon seatstay bridge is particularly worrying - is it just a recipe for cracking a carbon frame?
I am a bit surprised to read folks are not getting decent performance with MTB-style brakes. Are we talking "not quite as good as hydros during an enduro race" or are we talking "doesn't even stop the bike from 16mph over 15 meters?
I have refitted the bike with mechanical spykes now and tomorrow I will take it for a spin and report back about whether or not I can brake. I'm using my favourite chinese levers so my hopes are VERY high.
Betsy
Old School Grand Master
It’s a strange phenomenon isn’t it @M_Chavez .. one of my bikes set up with hydraulic Magura’s has no bite whatsoever, I’ve tried different pad compounds but the rotors constantly glaze over. Cleaning with ipa or dry cleaning fluid does nothing, sanding the glazed surface away improves matters for half a mile or so and they glaze over again, I’ve even removed 0.1mm from both faces of the rotor on the surface grinder at work.. I assume they’re getting too hot, in the wet they squeal like the world is coming to an end, the only time I get any kind of bite is when I’ve put it away wet and the rotors rust over but within a few 100yds the rust has worn away and I’m back to no braking power whatsoever.. pressure test suggests no leaks.
