"what do you mean by modulation?"
Modulation is the way the brakes come on as you squeeze the lever. BB7s are adjustable to the point where you can have a "light switch" type feel to them, i.e. there is very little lever movement required for full power. Or you can have them set up so that you don't get full power until the lever almost hits the bar. Or anywhere in between. Usually most people prefer them somewhere in between. This allows you to finesse the brakes while riding, you can apply anything from light braking to scrub a bit of speed, to full on over the bars hard braking if needed. Just depends on how hard you pull the lever. In the same vien, it's perfectly alright to have a bit of a bend in the rotor when the brakes are applied. They're designed to operate that way. As noted adjusting the inner pad controls modulation, how the brakes come on, either all at once or a little at a time. Just don't get carried away!
"and also is it better to have a tight cable were u dont really have to move the lever to mucn to brake or is it better to have it a little loose i have it to the point were if i press really hard it hits my shiter but not hard enough to change gears on me."
Your preference on this one, but it is usually better to have things a bit tighter than that. The brake lever really shouldn't make contact with anything at full pull. The way most folks prefer their brakes set up is to have the pads make contact with the rotors when their fingers (as they are pulling the lever) just start to make a 90 degree bend. This is where your fingers are able to apply the most force to the lever. The "contact point" is adjusted by moving the outboard pad closer or further away from the rotor. Closer gives a shorter pull to contact, further out gives more lever pull to contact. If you can't get the lever pull the way you like it without making contact with the shifter you may need to rotate the shifters slightly to give you the clearance you need. It probably won't be a problem, but you'd be surprised at how hard you can pull, and how far a brake lever will move during a panic stop.
So experiment with the adjustments a little to find the set up you like. That's the beauty of BB7s. As long as they are properly set up and working properly, you can adjust them (with in limits of course) to feel and perform the way you want them too. My personal preference is for just a touch on the "on/off" side. I like my BBs to firm up just a bit faster than most riders. So I adjust my inside pad a click or too closer to the rotor than most. My outside pad is adjusted so that my fingers just barely (not quite though) make a 90 degree bend when the pad makes contact with the rotor. Like I said, it's all in what you like. :thumbsup:
Good Dirt
