Ultra reliable: More reliable than an anvil or an iron skillet. Easy to adjust. Work great and quiet.

maybe a few grams above what a weight weenie would like?

I don't usually bother writing reviews, but I had to make an exception for my Avid BB7 mechanical disc brakes. I don't even remember exactly when I got these brakes, they came on a Bianchi SS I bought in the early 2000's (now 2016). I've had them at least 13 years now. I only have one mountain bike at a time and they have been moved from every bike I've owned in the last decade and a half. From bike to bike to bike over all those years, probably over 7 different platforms altogether. And on every bike they were used HARD. Bathed in mud almost daily, never disassembled, never lubricated, never "maintained." Just mounted, adjusted, cinched down and USED. Once in a while, and not very often (maybe once every season or two?), I swap out pads. That's it. These things have proven themselves to be the finest mountain bike product I've ever owned: PERIOD. No exaggeration and not just a gushing endorsement based on looks or a year or two of good service, I mean an endorsement based on going on a human GENERATION of hard use.

As to their performance? Around 2001 I bought my first set of disc brakes and they were hydraulics - Hope hydros - which had won a shootout in MB magazine against various competitors. They were the premium brakes of their day (and I paid a premium price for them). When the Hopes worked, they worked well and had a super buttery feel. But there was almost always some kind of headache getting them dialed in, or aligned, or bled, or trying to fix a dragging pad on one side, or whatever (and I'm a very mechanically inclined person who has dealt with hydraulic braking systems since I was a child working on cars with my dad). It was always something you had to deal with when all you wanted to do was to grab your bike and go riding. A year or two later I got my Avids and then took those Hopes off and never looked back since. The Avids had fabulous stopping power (once set up properly), they could easily be adjusted on the trail without tools, they were quiet, they didn't require messy fluids or special tools and they just plain worked every day, all day. I don't even think about them, which is how the very best MB products are.

Fast forward to today in 2016 and I recently got myself a Trek Stache that came with Shimano hydraulics. The first hydraulics I've had in about 13 years. Low and behold the rear brake is squealing like a pig all the time despite anything I do to fix it. Looks like it has a slow leak coming out of the caliper that is contaminating the pad and causing the problem. Guess what? I went to throw these POS hydraulics away and put my trusted Avids BB7s on, which still show NO signs of giving up, but they will not fit on this fancy new bike!

I actually love these brakes so much, despite really liking this Stache (brakes aside), I'm actually considering getting rid of this bike simply because my Avids won't fit it. These brakes are THAT good -; BELIEVE IT.

Similar Products Used:

Hope hydros

stopping power, value, durability, easy to tune

heavy (if you care about a few extra grams)

great break system. prefer them over cheap hydraulic systems. i've been using them (bought them used) for about 2 seasons. if you tune them (which takes about 30 seconds per caliper) every couple of months, they're golden. amazing stopping power & will take a beating.

Well made, no bleeding, stop on the dime, what more can you ask.

Weight

I've tried numerous brakes over the years and always fancy the latest and greatest.
No matter how light and pretty some of these companies can make brakes nothing has performed better then these brakes.
They stop when you need them to, with the Ultimate levers it's effortless one finger pulling.
Once set-up properly you don't have to look back again.

I'm taking off my Magura MT8's and putting these on my Nicolai FS.

Similar Products Used:

Hope, Magura MT8, Shimano, etc, tried them all.

GREAT STOPPERS! Very inexpensive. I got the front and rear calipers, rotors (G2 clean sweep), and mounting hardware for $99.

None

Follow the Avid set-up instructions and you'll have brakes that stop on a dime. Braking power is equal to or better than the Juicy 5's and 7's I've used in the past. Buy these brakes and spend the money you saved by not buying hydraulic and put that cash towards your wheelset or frameset.

Similar Products Used:

Avid Juicy 5's and 7's.

Simplicity, Reliablity, Power

Broke the internal cam once, after smashing the caliper on some bricks, ordered parts and fixed it up, I am surprised how well it fared after that. So this weakness is more of a strength.

I have Juicy 7's on my mountain bike, they have slightly better modulation, but are more hassle and have no more stopping power.

These brakes stop hard, fast, everytime. Nuff said.

Similar Products Used:

Hayes Mechanical, Tektro *cough*, Avid Juicy 7

Cheap, ease of adjustment

Stopping power not on-par with hydraulic brakes, heavy

I replaced my old Juicy 7 brakes with the BB7 brakes because I wanted something cheap and my Juicy 7s were driving me nuts because they constantly needed re-bleeding. The BB7s just don't have the same stopping power that the Juicy's had. You really got yank hard on the lever. The BB7s are also really heavy. They're adequate, but not optimal. They're a step-up from rim brakes in terms of stopping power, but a step-down from hydraulic disc brakes in terms of force needed to stop. I just upgraded to XX brakes... we'll see how that goes.

Similar Products Used:

Juicy 7, XX

They're always powerful, reliable, and easy to set up

Once you've tasted what's above, you'll want to switch everything you've got to these!

The next time the xt grimeca brakes need to be bled, I'll be swapping them out to these avids! I'll never, ever do anything else beside these! I'm another of the many avid Lifers!

Similar Products Used:

first gen xt hydros(made by italian co.), hayes hfx, stroker, mech...

powerful, reliable, simple

none... a little squeeky sometimes

i've had these brakes for so long and they've served me so well i have to put my props into writing. these avid brakes are the best deal in the world of mtbing... i know of no other product that delivers so much performance for the price. (except maybe the stan's system)

Easy to Adjust.

NONE

These are the best investment I have made(BB7-185mm). These brakes when paired with the Ultimate lever are flawless. I have been beating the daylights out of these brakes for the past 6 years and they have never let me down. I have the 185mm on my Turner SixPack and they work better than my friends hydros. No hydraulic fluid and one can use any direct pull lever. These brakes are still working like the day I got them. I recommend using full housing either Avid or Shimano. You will not be disappointed with this purchase.

Similar Products Used:

NONE

love to have a broucher or akind of a briefing details of this product like Hydrulcs disc brak Interested how do u people deliver let me know
regds
suhail

Outstanding looks od the dics wann brief or cataglouge of ths

Similar Products Used:

Nil