Building up a Specialized AWOL framset. I have used TRP Spyres in the past, but I have had to play around with the durn things to get them right, or have had to warranty out them since the pistons do not clamp perpendicular to each other which leads to uneven pad wear.
The BB7 (Road or MTN?) caught my eye since they dont look like they require a 3mm hex to adjust them and are a touch cheaper, while maintaining dual piston.
What are everyone's thoughts? It will be on a SRAM Rival 1x11 system.
bb7's are single piston, not double. I used them on mtb's for years, easy to adjust and inexpensive. That said, I'm running Spyres with compressionless housing and with Campy shifters and it's been working out better than I expected.
It is correct that both pads can be adjusted on the BB7s, just like every other mechanical disc brake; however, only the outboard pad is activated by the cable action. The BB7s are a single piston brake.
I had BB7s on my Salsa Vaya. They were good until I dared touch them and then they were awful. They are really hard to adjust due to the single piston design. You have to account for the flex of the rotor against the static pad. There are all sorts of tips online to set them up. I followed them all and couldn't get them dialed in.
I replaced the BB7s with TRP HY/RDs. They are much easier to set up due to the dual pistons. Just apply the brake and tighten the caliper bolts. However, the braking wasn't great out of the box. I had to buy compressionless housing, new pads and new rotors, so the cost really went up. Now they work great and are easy to maintain. I'm guessing you would have a similar experience with the Spyres.
Not a direct response but I have spyres on one bike and Shimano hydraulics in two others. The spyres are supposed to be the best mechanical brakes but they just are sooo inferior to hydraulics in every way. From set up to modulation to effort to max power to noise. You also have to adjust the pads after every other ride if you ride hills and especially in muddy or even dusty conditions. With current prices having come down so much for hydraulics I would not consider anything else (my experience is only with Shimano a but SRAM is supposed to be just a good).
vride wrote:Not a direct response but I have spyres on one bike and Shimano hydraulics in two others. The spyres are supposed to be the best mechanical brakes but they just are sooo inferior to hydraulics in every way. From set up to modulation to effort to max power to noise. You also have to adjust the pads after every other ride if you ride hills and especially in muddy or even dusty conditions. With current prices having come down so much for hydraulics I would not consider anything else (my experience is only with Shimano a but SRAM is supposed to be just a good).
\n
\nThat's unfortunate, I've not had any problems with mine and I've ridden dusty, muddy and hilly terrain. In fact the gravel roads I've been riding the LBS guys say I should be riding a MTB because of the steepness of the hills. But I do rinse my bike off after every ride especially if dusty or muddy to keep the things rolling. Also my Spyres came stock and were set up by my LBS. I'd agree the hyd brakes are generally better but not that much.. I've been pleasantly surprised how well my Spyres work.
vride wrote:Not a direct response but I have spyres on one bike and Shimano hydraulics in two others. The spyres are supposed to be the best mechanical brakes but they just are sooo inferior to hydraulics in every way. From set up to modulation to effort to max power to noise. You also have to adjust the pads after every other ride if you ride hills and especially in muddy or even dusty conditions. With current prices having come down so much for hydraulics I would not consider anything else (my experience is only with Shimano a but SRAM is supposed to be just a good).
Apples vs. Oranges. If you do a mechanical vs. mechanical comparison then you'd be on to something. Spyres are one of the best mechanical d-brakes. I may be biased because I set up a few a week at work and even had one of the CX pros here fooled that the bike he took for a test were lowly Spyres. He thought they were hydro until he looked down. So, ultimately, it comes down to the mechanic. Spyres are NOT hard to set up and the performance is much better than you're giving them credit for.
