Cycling UK Forum

Not buying it Brucey.
If things are maintained they should give good service BB7's do when they are.
Organic v Sintered,not a great deal of difference TBH,squeal/noise is minimal(I've had noisier cantis and V's)and confined to Sintered being applied initially on a damp ride,if the brake lever is given a gently squeeze now and again on such rides no squeal.
Any moving part will seize if it ain't lubed.
Yes they're slliigghhttllyy heavier than rim brakes,I'm not racing,I'm touring,so good predictable brakes beat light brakes,especially in wet and mucky conditions.

Yesterday I rode a couple of steep mucky bridleways running with water that would have left me hanging on for dear life with rim brakes,light single finger pressure was all I needed with BB7's and no squeal with the sintered pads

The pluses:-They stop PDQ predictably wet or dry exactly the same every time compared with rim brakes.There's no rim wear.
They don't wear brake pads out every farts end especially in winter.
Maintenance it minimal compared with rim brakes.

No contest

'slightly heavier' works out to be around one lb or so by the time you allow for the extra frame weight. For some purposes this is fine, but for others it is negating the weight advantage you might otherwise achieve if you (say) spent another £500 on your bike or something.

Every set of BB7s with sintered pads I've used (which is quite a few) has been noisy BTW; some squealed, but all make a grinding sound at low speeds (a bit like you have grit in a normal brake).

If you want your FPA adjuster definitely not to seize up when commuting in the winter, you need to strip a BB5/7 caliper down and apply anti-seize to the FPA thread. No option, it seems; I reckon they throw the salt down just before the rush hour morning and evening so any commuting cyclist sees a full dose; the corrosion on some commuting bikes is unbelievable, not just in the brakes either.

Like I said before, not bad or anything, but not panacea for all ills either; just a different set of compromises. I use discs on some bikes and they are fine, but on others I'd rather bang nails through soft parts of my anatomy than use them.

As ever, YMMV.

cheers

Make of this whatever you like.....http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=83944&hilit=dawes+disc

On the subject of seized adjusters, has anyone had any success drilling out and making good? I've done the preemptive strike with anti seize, just curious after spending time drilling out the seized pistons on a Juicy 5 caliper.

Saw this, thanks 531colin. Not really sure what recourse I might have at this stage. Dawes seem to have washed their hands of it. I have adjusted the brakes so they're running normally again. If I have to adjust in another fortnight, I'll invest in a BB7 for the front wheel at least. Pretty frustrating for a £1,500 touring bike... It's actually the third one Dawes sent, the first two had badly aligned drop outs, bad paint jobs, under tightened components to name a few of the issues.

Charlie, I have very little experience of disc brakes, but others might be able to give you a sensible opinion as to whether an "un-faced" frame might give the problems you describe.
If an "un-faced" frame is likely to be the problem, then I think you have 2 potential solutions to consider....
1) get the frame faced by somebody who knows what they are doing, and use the existing calipers
2) try avid BB7s....they have "cup washers" on the mounting bolts (like vee brake pads) which gives a bit more freedom to align the calipers on the mounts.
.....but again, I can't recommend which of those options is cheaper/more likely to be successful.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/avid ... lsrc=aw.ds

£92 buys peace of mind.
It shouldn't need to be the case but IMHO I wouldn't buy a Dawes bike after reading/hearing about their quality or lack of it .Whoever's running the show(for that's all it is)has managed to turn one of the UK's respected marks into a third rate no mark company IMO.