BB7s to Hope V-Twin?

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OP
OP
R

Red Light

Guest
Finally, and apologies again if this is too obvious/stupid, but you have paired the correct calipers with the correct levers re pull ratio haven't you? The BB7s come in a road and a MTB version, or silver/red compared to black/red, mxismatching caliper and lever could create what you're experiencing.

The manufacture has paired them so I assume they've got it right.
 

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
The manufacture has paired them so I assume they've got it right.

Doh, it's the Versa levers, not ones I've used but my understanding is your calipers should be silver(I believe), if they are then it's not cable pull. Or at least it's only cable pull if the are quite different to other road levers.

Well I'm stumped, the amount of lever pull I get, mentioned above, is after I've dialled the pads out further than just not rubbing. So about 3 clicks away from the point there is noise, on both sides. That's personal preference I can adjust them so that they bite with a lot less lever travel, but that feels a bit too on/off to me.

I followed the advice from Gregs link in post #9, even buying a dremel tool to square the cable outers and using Goodridge compressionless outer. Apart from the usual familiarisation process with a new product my only issue was the brake tabs misalignment I mentioned as well.

Maybe worth a search to see if others have had issues with the alfine shifter paddle or the cable pull of the levers.
 

Howard

Senior Member
Red: buy a travel agent for your front. Will give you more pull and more margin for set-up error. Bit of a kludge. If you are still not happy then get the Hope system.
 

Alun

Guru
Location
Liverpool
Would it help to reposition the levers on the bars to give more available lever travel? ie if the drops are not a constant radius when viewed from the side, such as some "anatomical" shaped drops.
 
OP
OP
R

Red Light

Guest
Have now swapped over to the Hope V-Twin and what a difference. Very easy to fit and now the brake lever goes back until it stops and then doesn't move any closer to the bar as you squeeze it harder and brake harder. Much better braking too and no occasional rubbing noises. Well worth the investment IMO. Anyone interested in some lightly used Avid BB7's? Front and rear calipers and 160mm rotors. No cables and no adapter posts but fitted with organic pads and comes with spare pair of sintered pads.
 

Howard

Senior Member
How much do you want for them? I'm tempted. I need some more rotors and it could be useful to have a few pads / calipers spare.
 

benb

Evidence based cyclist
Location
Epsom
Have now swapped over to the Hope V-Twin and what a difference. Very easy to fit and now the brake lever goes back until it stops and then doesn't move any closer to the bar as you squeeze it harder and brake harder. Much better braking too and no occasional rubbing noises. Well worth the investment IMO. Anyone interested in some lightly used Avid BB7's? Front and rear calipers and 160mm rotors. No cables and no adapter posts but fitted with organic pads and comes with spare pair of sintered pads.

Can you give a brief overview of how easy it was to set up, and what to watch out for? I might do this on my Croix de Fer.
 
OP
OP
R

Red Light

Guest
Can you give a brief overview of how easy it was to set up, and what to watch out for? I might do this on my Croix de Fer.

Fitting them was a breeze. Take off the old brake calipers but leave the mounts in place (no need to buy the Hope ones, the Avid ones work fine. I swapped for the Hope discs but the Avid ones work fine too if you don't want to buy those. Push some of the cable through the outer but don't pull it out or you will need to take the bar tape off and remount it all to get the cable back through the outer at the brake lever. Bolt the new calipers in place and mount the manifold unit bracket (but not the manifold under the stem. Work out the cable outer length and cut it off then push the inner back through (doesn't matter if you cut the inner too as long as you do it with six inches or so sticking out at the lever end). Slide it through the manifold, pull tight and tighten up the brass ferrule on each side. Mount the manifold and then comes the only tricky part - staring down through the gap in the back of the caliper and trying to centre it on the disk and getting the wheel to run freely without rubbing.. Once you've done that go out and bed them in but don't forget to allow for long stopping distances when you first start.
 

benb

Evidence based cyclist
Location
Epsom
Fitting them was a breeze. Take off the old brake calipers but leave the mounts in place (no need to buy the Hope ones, the Avid ones work fine. I swapped for the Hope discs but the Avid ones work fine too if you don't want to buy those. Push some of the cable through the outer but don't pull it out or you will need to take the bar tape off and remount it all to get the cable back through the outer at the brake lever. Bolt the new calipers in place and mount the manifold unit bracket (but not the manifold under the stem. Work out the cable outer length and cut it off then push the inner back through (doesn't matter if you cut the inner too as long as you do it with six inches or so sticking out at the lever end). Slide it through the manifold, pull tight and tighten up the brass ferrule on each side. Mount the manifold and then comes the only tricky part - staring down through the gap in the back of the caliper and trying to centre it on the disk and getting the wheel to run freely without rubbing.. Once you've done that go out and bed them in but don't forget to allow for long stopping distances when you first start.

Great, thanks. I may well give that a go.
 

Howard

Senior Member
Mount the manifold and then comes the only tricky part - staring down through the gap in the back of the caliper and trying to centre it on the disk and getting the wheel to run freely without rubbing.. Once you've done that go out and bed them in but don't forget to allow for long stopping distances when you first start.

Can't you use the old 'loosen the caliper mounting bolts, squeeze and hold brake leaver, tighten caliper mounting bolts' trick to do this in one easy step?
 
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