Avid BB7 or Hayes HFX 9 XC?

I ride the Hayes nine brakes on my Surly 1x1 and they are great! Cant go wrong with hydro... Especially for the price.

If you are able to bleed them go hydros .

Thanks for the input guys. Never bled brakes before. My old man is a big motorcyclist though...I've got to think he could show me the ropes the first time. Thanks again. Any other replies are welcome. Going to pull the trigger one way or another before the new year.

Don't let the bleeding scare ya... Hayes nine brakes come bled out of the box, and I just installed a set of my own without needing to bleed them at all. I have had a used set of the Hayes mag brakes on my urban bike for a couple years now, and never bled them either. Actually, I have never bled a set of brakes before and they have all performed flawless.

They both work well, I use both types on different bikes. That being said, I have had some problems with the Hayes, a line pulled loose from the master cylinder after a big fall. I trust the BB7's reliability more, especially if I've done some traveling to get to the riding spot.