Avid BB7 road discs

[Chuffy]

I'm possibly on the verge of buying a new bike (Kona Dew Drop) which has these brakes on. I tested one today and the brakes were beyond awful. They were so weak that I could ride with either brake fully on. Chap in the shop said that the pads were still new and therefore still had their protective coating on.

Does anyone have experience of these brakes? I need to know fast because otherwise my buying window will have closed...

Cheers,
Chuffy

 

[Panter]

Absolutely none.

However, the Avid Juicy Fives on my Trek 6700 were frighteningly poor when new.
Once bedded in they'll catapault you over the bars no problem so I'd be surprised if the BB7's weren't the same.

 

[andrew-the-tortoise]

Used Avid juicy 3's & 7's - great once bedded in. The harder sintered pads take longer to do this.

 

[Chuffy]

Thanks chaps. I'll assume that they can't possibly be as bad in Real Life(tm) as they were on the test bike and take the plunge...

 

[arallsopp]

They're fine (probably). One nice descent and they'll be good. Squeeze, relax, squeeze harder, relax, repeat until stopped a few times, and all is fine.

YMMV, but that always works for me on new pads.

 

[ASC1951]

One nice descent and they'll be good.

Make sure there is a good run-out, otherwise it will be your bottom going

Squeeze, relax, squeeze harder, relax, repeat until stopped a few times, ...

 

[Mr Pig]

There could be air in the lines or anything. I've no experience of them but I can't see them being that bad by design.

The brakes that came on my bike were less than brilliant, when I bought the bike it had oil on the pads and disks and despite all of their efforts the brakes never worked to my satisfaction. I moaned to Shimano and they gave me a full new set of brakes which have been spot on. Silent, zero fade, progressive and as strong as you need them.

Whatever issues they have I'm sure you'll sort it out. It wouldn't stop me buying a bike.

 

[djb1971]

I've just put them on the peregrine with new drops and they are perfect once set up correctly and ridden for a few miles and I've just taken xt hydraulics off. The bb7s have more modulation, they will stop you dead if needed

 

[Chuffy]

Thanks chaps. It's academic now anyway as the chap who runs our works Cyclescheme is off sick and the Wiggle special offer on the bike ends at midnight tomorrow.

Otherwise I could have had a £635 Kona Dew Drop for about £250 spread over 18 months.

 

[jpembroke]

Bummer! Nothing wrong with BB7s by the way. I fitted them to my On One Inbred a few years back as an interim measure, the intention being to upgrade to hydraulics at some point when budget would allow. However, they were so good I've stuck with them. There is certainly a breaking in period with these brakes though. I remember riding the bike up and down the street a few times, testing the brakes and thinking "well, these are sh*t!" Then all of a sudden they kicked in big time and I pulled a massive endo, narrowly avoiding planting my face in to tarmac.

 

[NickM]

The original pads, in my experience, eventually develop a tendency to squeal. EBC green pads are far superior.