Disc brakes what are the best ones to get?

[garygkn]

I was told that a mechanical disc brake set which was low maintenance and had no hydraulic fluid and air bubbles to contend with would be the best option for a disc mtb. I can't remember the make or model but they sounded good.

Can anyone help with this query please?

[byegad]

Avid BB7s. Really good brakes and easy to fit and keep in adjustment. Avoid their BB5s like the plague. Really difficult to keep in adjustment and with the tendency to drag. They also don't pull you up as well as the BB7s.

[NUKe]

MTB purists say dont touch mechanicals with a barge pole. I am of the complete opposite on the basis that I can fix mechanicals on the trail. I never had any problems with mine older Shimano ones, but then I tend to class myself as a trail rider happier on bridal ways than the black trail The latest mechanical ones from Shimano are supposed to be very good and had a good write up sometime ago in Cycling plus.

[garygkn]

Thanks for the feedback.
That's an excellent start.
I will be mainly riding trails and a bit of rougher ground nothing too mtb. No real mountains and boulders and quick sand to negotiate. Someone who hangs up his bike said he had trouble with air bubbles in the hydraulic system he had and then more faff to maintain the system he said it was a revelation to get the mechanicals that worked in his opinion they were better and more stable he had a very high end custom mtb but ended up swapping out the brake system. I will research the Avid and Shimano mentioned here.

[EdinburghFixed]

I have four different brakes on the fleet, BB5, BB7, Elixir R and Juicy 3. I definitely prefer the hydraulics (particularly the Elixir which is on the front of my lowracer) but having said that, the BB7 is perfectly competent and does give you the familiar (I won't say low) maintenance regime of a pair of rim brakes. Certainly there is no point getting a BB5, as the 7's are much easier to maintain and not significantly more expensive.

I recently had a little trouble with the Elixir going soft, so I forked out for the Avid bleed kit and to be honest, I found it just as easy to do a hydraulic bleed as to do a recabling and pad adjust on the mechanicals. The hydraulics also go very much longer (in my experience anyway) between attention. The Elixir did about 1700 autumn/winter miles before I had to touch it at all.

At the end of the day the pros/cons are well discussed, but now I've found out how easy it is to bleed them, I will be going with hydraulics from this point on, unless there's a particular reason not to.

[sean65]

I use a hydraulic up front and a mechanical at the rear.

An Avid mechanical is fine for the rear as you don't need to worry too much about the modulation of braking. Just give the lever a tug and lock up the back as you slide it round the hairpin. Great fun!

With the money you'll save you'll be able to spend a bit more up front. Avid Mechanical on the back and a Juicy 5 up front is fine for almost all riding.

Having a hydraulic up front makes a big difference but be warned, when you first fit them there doesn't seem to be much stopping power then all of a sudden there's enough to throw you over the bars. They take a few rides to bed in.

[bodach]

I have Hayes hydraulic on one bike and just put an Avid mechanical on the front of another. Braking power on the mechanical is excellent and so far no problems on a few hundred miles use. Went for mechanical as did not need to change anything on the handlebars and so cheaper and easier to fit.

[garygkn]

The brakes are going on a road drops cyclo cross style.

[andrew_s]

The brakes are going on a road drops cyclo cross style.

If you want to use drop bar levers, then it's Avid BB7.

The only other possibilities are BB5, the Shimano Tiagra R505 cable disc, or the Tektro Lyra. The BB5 is covered above, and what little information there is about the others isn't promising, though the main grumbles are setup & adjustment rather than basic function.

[philg]

Avid BB7 - brilliant (IMO)

[rogerzilla]

Tandemists like the BB7 too, because long descents with a heavy tandem and only two brakes can put a lot of heat into hydraulic fluid. Apparently the plastic parts on the BB7 caliper can melt, but that's not as bad as boiling the fluid and finding the levers suddenly come all the way back to the bars

[Russell160]

Like roggerzilla says, with hydraulics there is a risk of the fluid overheating and bubbling resulting in zero braking. This is not as remote a possibility as it sounds, esp. if you are doing something demanding like cyclocross. It happened to me a couple of times on lengthy descents in France last year, quite alarming as it happens without warning . I personally would prefer mechanicals, partly for this reason but mainly because of the massive kerfuffle factor of hydraulics. I'm reasonably competent mechanically, but never felt confident with hydraulics and ended up taking them to the shop. Unless you are doing seriously competitive descents imho the difference in performance is negligible. I have used Clarke's mechanicals and Avids and found them both very good, also used hope hydraulics. I think most well known brands are pretty competent.

[garygkn]

Thanks it seems to me that BB7 are the ones!

[reohn2]

We've got BB7's on the Cannondale tandem,awesome!

[7_lives_left]

I was told by the mechanic in the LBS that hydraulic brakes that use mineral oil as the brake fluid (i.e. Shimano ones) are much easier to /refill/setup/bleed/.

I have also had the dubious honour of replacing a brake hose and refilling it by the side of the road while on tour, but it required a day and a half of riding on one brake to acquire all the bits first and find a tame cycle mechanic to prep the hose for me. Maybe wire brakes are better after all.