Recommend a disc brake set

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Tin Pot

Guru
hi,

Trying to decide if building a cx is worth while, and the frameset I want is for disc brakes...which are an unknown quantity to me.

I did some googling and brakes seem to be very expensive compared to rim brakes, and it's not clear if the braking surface and pads come with them.

Ta.
 

Tangoup51

Well-Known Member
Tweekscycle offers Avid BB7 for £50.50 each (including rotor & pads)

Yeah, they're quite expensive but i'd be lying if i said the price isnt justified. Avid BB5s are vile little things. They weigh in around 50% the price of a BB7 Caliper, and for good reason. The price makes 100% the difference for 50% the price.

However, calming my Avid Fanboy-ness; you can actually find some cheaper and yet functional calipers out there from all sorts of manufactures, but personally, I have never gone for them. I tend to spend well on my calipers, so i really dont have to think about them later on. Trust me, if there's one thing worth spending well on, it's the brakes. Especially when it comes to Discs.
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
Another vote for BB7's. I have done many thousands of miles with them in all weathers, on some of London's finest roads. Up mountains and down in Spain and France with ner a problem. Very easy to adjust and change pads too.
 
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Andrew_P

In between here and there
Sram Red Hydro! :-) Any of the Shimano Hydro but they all have weird huge shifters for the Hydraulics. But they are fire and forget. I never got on that well with the BB7 cable pull but with hindsight I wonder if it was my frame flexing or a buckled rotor.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
TRP Spyre recommended to me when I was looking at the Ti build. Can add cross levers unlike with hydros and no monster fugly hoods

I have BB5 on the Boardman, they work ok but I keep having to get them adjusted. I certainly wouldn't choose them but the bike was under £500
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
TRP Spyre recommended to me when I was looking at the Ti build. Can add cross levers unlike with hydros and no monster fugly hoods

I have BB5 on the Boardman, they work ok but I keep having to get them adjusted. I certainly wouldn't choose them but the bike was under £500


BB5's are the devils work. Terrible brakes.
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
I’m just about to order some TRP Spyre units, not cheap but both sides actuate so no drag from the fixed side unlike my Tektro 10 Calipers, which work well enough but a pain to adjust. They come with pads. I should go with a 180mm rotor on the front for really sharp response. BB7s might be a good alternative.
 

cm2mackem

Über Member
Location
Chelmsford
Got TRP Spyre on my Merida CX 500, best mechanical brakes I've used, had BB7 on my mountain bike, the standard pads are rubbish on the TRP's, but no mechanical disc is better than Hydraulics, but then mechanical are easier to work on, I wasn't aware the TRP's worked with a rotor larger than 160.
 
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cm2mackem

Über Member
Location
Chelmsford
Thanks, I’ll check that. Nothing to say they don’t on Evans site.
I got the info from Chain Reaction,
  • Staff
Answer:
This road disc brake caliper is developed for use with 140mm or 160mm rotors only as these are the common diameters used on Road bikes with Disc brakes. These calipers are intended to be use with Road Drop Levers.

A 200mm rotor diameter would be too large to be accommodated on a road bike.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/trp-spyre-mechanical-2-piston-disc-brake/rp-prod143623
 

dan_bo

How much does it cost to Oldham?
[QUOTE 4995267, member: 45"]I don't know why people bother with mechanical calipers when Shimano hydraulics are so cheap, and fit and forget. That's for flat bars of course. I'm not sure how the land lies these days with hydraulic brifters.[/QUOTE]

I know if one Shimano hydro brifter user that sez whilst the braking is fine, the shifting ain't so crisp. At least on their 105-level set.
 
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