Avid BB7 Disc Brake System

4.56/5

(253 Reviews)

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MSRP : $89.00

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Product Description

The Avid BB7 Mountain Disc Brake packs all the confident stopping power and simple adjustability you've ever wanted in a disc brake. From day rides to long-distance touring, the mechanically-actuated BB7 provides peace of mind, since all the adjustments can easily be done trailside with your standard toolkit.G2 Clean Sweep rotors dissipate heat and provide predictable modulationAvid's Tri-Align caliper adjustment knobs let you painlessly dial in your brakesCompatible with standard long-pull mountain levers

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Reviews 1 - 15 (253 Reviews Total)

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Value Rating:

Submitted by CuzinMike a Cross Country Rider

Date Reviewed: May 23, 2013

Strengths:    Inexpensive, sufficient power. You never have to bleed them.

Weaknesses:    Not as powerful or as easy to modulate as hydraulic brakes.

Bottom Line:

Bottom line: These are the best mechanical disc brakes you can buy. If you take the time to set them up properly and adjust them periodically they can outlast your frame. They wouldn't be my first choice for epic downhill runs, but for XC they have plenty of power. I guess they are heavier than high-end hydros, but I'm not a weight weenie so I don't consider it a weakness; especially when you consider how much cheaper they are. Oh, and if you're wondering if these are worth the extra money over BB5s, they absolutely are.

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Similar Products Used: Avid BB5, Avid Elixr CR

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Submitted by Micdanson88 a Cross Country Rider

Date Reviewed: April 20, 2013

Strengths:    Powerful, easy to adjust/install, look good, extremely smooth.

Weaknesses:    The avid rotors squeal a little, but it does not affect braking power, a tad heavy (if you care)

Bottom Line:

Buy them. If you don't want to spend $100 apiece on hydros and still get great performance, you need these. They are far superior to other cable brakes in my opinion. Paired with avids speed dial levers they have adjustments not found on hydraulics.

Bottom line: If you don't have them you should get them

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Favorite Trail:   Anywhere I can find

Duration Product Used:   ~3 months

Price Paid:    $48.00

Purchased At:   Price Point

Similar Products Used:   cheap hydros, disc brakes on a walmart bike (don't ever buy one)

Bike Setup:   Mongoose otero expert, marzocchi fork, BB7 brakes.

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Submitted by not-real-fast a Cross Country Rider

Date Reviewed: March 16, 2013

Strengths:    Low price.
Easy set-up.
Great stopping power.
Reliable.

Weaknesses:    None

Bottom Line:

I installed BB7s on my wife's XC bike.
My son installed BB7s on his XC bike.
My wife and I just bought fat bikes, both with BB7s.
After adjusting them on my fat bike, I was compelled to write a review.
I love these brakes.
They are so easy to set-up, and they work.
I am a Clydesdale Plus and my bike weights 37.4 pounds without gear.
Yet, these brakes have all the stopping power I will ever need, even with the smallish 160mm rotors.
No, they are not as light as hydraulics; that is not an issue for me.
At least I know the BB7s will alway work and never need bleeding.
I have overly-finicky Juicy Ultimates on my XC bike so I know both sides of things.
I highly recommend Avid BB7s!

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Favorite Trail:   Too many to list.

Similar Products Used:   Avid Juicy Ultimates

Bike Setup:   2013 Salsa Mukluk 3 - completely stock.

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Submitted by razvani18 a Weekend Warrior

Date Reviewed: February 16, 2013

Strengths:    The brakes are flawless! Powerful when you need them to be! Almost no maintenance needed apart from a 5 seconds to dial in a pad.

Weaknesses:    A little heavy (but i don think someone with a 2000$ carbon frame wouldn't afford something lighter in the first place), so normal weight for normal bikes. Short life supplied brake pads.

Bottom Line:

I upgraded my brakes from Tektro IO's and man there is a difference! I ride 185 front and 160 back G3 discs which i think are more than enough for a hardtail. I made till now more than 600 km an all types of terrain (from dusty to extremely wet/muddy) and had no issues. Together with the SD7 levers i think they are above same price (50 euros) or even a little pricier hydros.

I love the simplicity of these brakes. I think it deserved 5 Chilis if it weren't for the short lasting brake pads fitted when new.

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Duration Product Used:   9 months

Price Paid:    $100.00

Purchased At:   maroshbike.ro

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Submitted by IstongKowldPaRin a Weekend Warrior

Date Reviewed: December 24, 2012

Strengths:    most powerful mech disc brake ever. easy adjustments.

Weaknesses:    not that cheap. costs as much as a xt brake if you buy it complete with gore cables and sd levers. at least from where i live

Bottom Line:

got mine for usd70 bnew with fr5s, came from a built bike. too expensive for a mech brake if bought retail.
performs really nice though.

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Favorite Trail:   maarat

Price Paid:    $70.00

Purchased At:   from the mechanic

Similar Products Used:   xt m770, magura marta sl, shimano non series hydro, hayes mx2

Bike Setup:   surly ogre

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Submitted by treesmasher a Cross Country Rider

Date Reviewed: December 15, 2012

Strengths:    Strong, smooth and I really like the levers. They are easy to adjust and are always consistent.

Weaknesses:    Absolutely none.

Bottom Line:

I`ve had these on 2 bikes and have not one complaint. I think they are excellent and come at a good price. I would choose these over the hydro brakes on my higher end bike.

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Submitted by joms li

Date Reviewed: December 10, 2012

Strengths:    ever relieable, strong braking power, user friendly instillation and setting and the most enexpensive value for the buck

Weaknesses:    none

Bottom Line:

i personally installed avid bb7 to my bikes
i love the performance and works best with any speed dial brake levers.

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Submitted by p2rider426

Date Reviewed: November 5, 2012

Strengths:    Great feel and power once set up properly!

Weaknesses:    Takes some time and experience to setup properly.

Bottom Line:

Invest in a nice quality cable/housing and lever. Then follow detailed instructions that can be found on this forum for setting up the caliper/pads. Break them in HARD then enjoy for several years!

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Duration Product Used:   ~3 years

Price Paid:    $45.00

Purchased At:   pricepoint

Similar Products Used:   Hayes mech brakes, avid hydraulic brakes

Bike Setup:   Chromo P2 urban pounder

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Submitted by daniel harvey

Date Reviewed: October 18, 2012

Strengths:    affordable, adjustable, effective

Weaknesses:    even with stiff cable housing, they can't touch the power of SLX 666s

Bottom Line:

For years these are the only disc brakes I used. They still are on my 29er SS, and one other bike. I put SLXs on my more aggressive bike and am impressed with their power. I always use 1 finger braking with my BB7's, but have to put more finger into it than with the Shimanos. The modulation is great with BB7s, but that might be another way of saying I have to squeeze pretty hard to really stop.

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Similar Products Used: Shimano SLX 666

Bike Setup: 29er SS, Moto ti 29er

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Submitted by mk.utlra

Date Reviewed: September 26, 2012

Strengths:    Excellent value

Weaknesses:    None

Bottom Line:

Best value mech brakes.

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Submitted by Troy Fretwell

Date Reviewed: September 9, 2012

Strengths:    Simple to set up and adjust.

Weaknesses:    cable actuation can get rough over time

Bottom Line:

I have been riding with these brakes for many years and through several updates to the design.
They are pretty much bullet proof, particularly if you set them up with the Gore RideOn cable set.
Contaminated cables were the potential weak spot of this system, but with sealed ride on cables you simply can't go wrong.

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Submitted by tJiv

Date Reviewed: August 6, 2012

Strengths:    Stop well, easy to adjust, price

Weaknesses:    Haven't found any

Bottom Line:

Great mechanical disc brake for the price. Upgraded from bb5 (which suck). These have way better stopping power and feel great with the speed dial 7 levers. The pad size is about twice the area of the bb5's and they don't stick to the rotors. Easy to install and maintain. Theres probably plenty of other mechanical discs that preform just as well but none for this price tag.

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Similar Products Used: BB5

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Submitted by danhasdrums a All Mountain Rider

Date Reviewed: July 16, 2012

Strengths:    They slow your bike down

Weaknesses:    None

Bottom Line:

Nice modulation, when paired with speed dial 7 levers (or better levers made for use with mechanical systems) you'll have adjustable modulation. Single finger braking and just overall awesomeness. Enormous upgrade from the BB5's on my bike that came stock with it and not feeling jealous over the hydraulic brakes I've used on demo and rental bikes. These brakes provide all the braking power I'll ever need.

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Favorite Trail:   Willowdale

Similar Products Used:   BB5's, Magura M2's, Shimano XT

Bike Setup:   Not even close to stock 2010 Cannondale F5.

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Submitted by Red1racer

Date Reviewed: June 30, 2012

Strengths:    Inexpensive

Weaknesses:    Average modulation. Reliability

Bottom Line:

I had to write this review because of my non-biased assessment of this brake. I had read on mtbr.com of the great rating this brake received, but didn't even realize I had this as a front brake on my bike until the caliper broke. Yeah, I know this sounds weak but I have six bikes, two of which I built, and this brake came with a bike. It didn't even perform significantly better than the V-brake on my rear wheel. For 2,800 miles I thought the two were comparable until the BB7 totally crapped out. I can't agree with the majority on this one!

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Submitted by Tony

Date Reviewed: June 22, 2012

Strengths:    price. stopping power. ease of use.

Weaknesses:    modulation. weight.

Bottom Line:

lets face it, it's cool to have the expensive poop on your bike, XTR, Fox Shocks, Formula...yadda yadda yadda I like to ride not wrench and they still haven't made a hydro brake that you don't have to dick with all the time. yea maybe they don't have the modualtion of a hydro brake but that's what you have muscles for in your fingers I've never had a problem with these being to "grabby" I just use one finger for most braking. I will be the first to run off and spend $500 on a set of hydro brakes when the brake as a) don't need to be bleed all the time B) stop well C) easy to set up. I don't see that this exists yet. Maybe if I had a team mechanic to do it all for me but like I said these you slap on your bike and ride. What could be better?

Reviews 1 - 15 (253 Reviews Total)

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Avid BB7 Disc Brake System

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