BB7 Upgrade Issues

[Mr. Jaggers]

I have just bought a pair of avid BB7 road s callipers and rotors to replace the BB5's, which came as standard on my boardman CX Team. I asked my LBS to swap them over. Unfortunately he struggled to get them set up, saying that when they were fitted they just weren't as effective as the BB5's. He didn't have a great deal of time and is going to try again next week but I was very surprised as I read that this should be a straight swap.
He has suggested taking off the suicide brake levers as this may make the BB7's more effective. Has anyone had trouble swapping bb5's for BB7's?
I had read that BB7's are so much better and having found the BB5's not very effective I was looking forward to the upgrade. Now I am wondering if I have wasted my money and may have to stick with the original brakes.

Any comments would be welcome.

 

[Mr. Jaggers]

Thanks. I'll take a look.

 

[PK99]

I have just bought a pair of avid BB7 road s callipers and rotors to replace the BB5's, which came as standard on my boardman CX Team. I asked my LBS to swap them over. Unfortunately he struggled to get them set up, saying that when they were fitted they just weren't as effective as the BB5's. He didn't have a great deal of time and is going to try again next week but I was very surprised as I read that this should be a straight swap.
He has suggested taking off the suicide brake levers as this may make the BB7's more effective. Has anyone had trouble swapping bb5's for BB7's?
I had read that BB7's are so much better and having found the BB5's not very effective I was looking forward to the upgrade. Now I am wondering if I have wasted my money and may have to stick with the original brakes.

Any comments would be welcome.

My lbs swapped out bb5 for bb7 on my tricross. No issues or problems. Interrupter levers work well. Bb5s were a real pain.

 

[Globalti]

I swopped the BB5s on my Tricross for BB7s and they work really well.

Check that the bike shop has really clicked the pads right up into the caliper, they need to be pushed up hard until there's a loud click and the little tabs that help the disc to fit between them should be in the cutouts in the sides of the caliper slot. If you don't click them in place the pads will be crooked and will work, but not very well. Don't ask me how I know this.

 

[Mr. Jaggers]

Thanks, I will mention this when I take it back on Tuesday.
Much appreciated

 

[lejogger]

Yep... Another here who has upgraded the bb5 to bb7 on a boardman CX.

Unfortunately mine was because the pads on the bb5s had fused themselves to the calipers and when I tried to dial them in I pretty much destroyed the bolt.

Just fully rebuilt the CX so haven't done many miles to really review them completely. To be honest they seem very similar to the bb5, with the outboard adjustment and the shape of the pads seeming to be the only difference. Still a bit fiddly to set up and probably still sound like a couple of horny geese in the wet.
It's a fiddly set up and takes a while so it may be that your LBS just didn't have the resources to do a thorough job. It's worth learning yourself though as they will need adjusting from time to time and it's not rocket science.

Incidentally in the rebuild I got rid of the top bar brakes. I find they confuse me when I'm on the bike that doesn't have them!!

 

[Globalti]

Once I'd got mine set up I took the advice I'd received on here and filed a chamfer on the "leading" edges of the brake pads, which seems to have reduced brake squeal quite a lot. I also removed my panic levers as they weren't doing the brake efficiency any favours and I never used them.

 

[Mr. Jaggers]

Thanks. I think I will ditch the top brake levers as well. I never use them and if I can get a little bit more power to the brakes then its worth a shot.
LBS is open again tomorrow. I will be letting him know that it is quite do-able. No pressure!

 

[Mr. Jaggers]

On a separate note, what is the widest tyre I could fit on to the standards boardman wheels. Could I go up to 40 or is 38 my limit?