Hi everyone!
I have a slight but annoying problem with my BB7 front brake. I have a Nishiki X-29 frame which has been rebuilt by different components. As can be seen from the pictures I have a Manitou Tower Pro fork.
As to the problems, I just recently replaced new original sintered Avid pads to the front (ridden less than 50 km after installation). Braking power is good, but they squeal quite a bit with - how should I best describe it - a prolonged braking with lesser but equal amount of force being applied to the brake lever. When more force is applied to the brake it feels as if the whole brake starts to vibrate, not violently but enough to notice that as if everything is not quite right with the brakes.
So there's the problem (1) of squealing with lesser force applied to the brake lever with prolonged braking and the problem (2) with the front brake starting to vibrate when more force is applied. The problem (3) is that after replacing the new pads the front brake drags or slows down all the time.
It should be mentioned, that I have the exact same brake setup in the rear (with 180 diameter rotor both in front and rear) and have absolutely zero problems there: no squealing, no dragging, no vibrating. Furthermore, the squealing is worse with the new pads.
I reckon that the vibration part of the problem has been more or less existent also with the old pads.
The dragging problem is new: I had some initial problems a few years ago with the old pads while they were still brand new to get the setup right. But now with the new pads, I have checked everything many times and it seems that no matter what I do they will still slow down and drag so that the wheel cannot travel freely. The bike is still rideable, that is, the dragging is not that bad, but of course it would be nice to have the setup right. I don't know if the pads require some "adapting" phase.
What caught my attention (pertaining, I guess, mostly to the vibration issue) the most is how the front pads (see the pictures) "come so much out" of the rotor, more so than in the rear brakes. It seems like the outermost part of the disc rotor is not at all touching to the pads while braking. This could maybe indicate that the whole setting is mounted incorrectly. However, I'm 100% sure that the pads are installed correctly. The only possibility in my view is that the mounting of the whole brake caliper is wrong, but if I'm not wholly mistaken, the mount I am using currently was the only option that was fitting (at least, that came along with the original Avid packaging) at all to the Manitou fork.
Thanks for the help and feedback guys!
I have a slight but annoying problem with my BB7 front brake. I have a Nishiki X-29 frame which has been rebuilt by different components. As can be seen from the pictures I have a Manitou Tower Pro fork.
As to the problems, I just recently replaced new original sintered Avid pads to the front (ridden less than 50 km after installation). Braking power is good, but they squeal quite a bit with - how should I best describe it - a prolonged braking with lesser but equal amount of force being applied to the brake lever. When more force is applied to the brake it feels as if the whole brake starts to vibrate, not violently but enough to notice that as if everything is not quite right with the brakes.
So there's the problem (1) of squealing with lesser force applied to the brake lever with prolonged braking and the problem (2) with the front brake starting to vibrate when more force is applied. The problem (3) is that after replacing the new pads the front brake drags or slows down all the time.
It should be mentioned, that I have the exact same brake setup in the rear (with 180 diameter rotor both in front and rear) and have absolutely zero problems there: no squealing, no dragging, no vibrating. Furthermore, the squealing is worse with the new pads.
I reckon that the vibration part of the problem has been more or less existent also with the old pads.
The dragging problem is new: I had some initial problems a few years ago with the old pads while they were still brand new to get the setup right. But now with the new pads, I have checked everything many times and it seems that no matter what I do they will still slow down and drag so that the wheel cannot travel freely. The bike is still rideable, that is, the dragging is not that bad, but of course it would be nice to have the setup right. I don't know if the pads require some "adapting" phase.
What caught my attention (pertaining, I guess, mostly to the vibration issue) the most is how the front pads (see the pictures) "come so much out" of the rotor, more so than in the rear brakes. It seems like the outermost part of the disc rotor is not at all touching to the pads while braking. This could maybe indicate that the whole setting is mounted incorrectly. However, I'm 100% sure that the pads are installed correctly. The only possibility in my view is that the mounting of the whole brake caliper is wrong, but if I'm not wholly mistaken, the mount I am using currently was the only option that was fitting (at least, that came along with the original Avid packaging) at all to the Manitou fork.
Thanks for the help and feedback guys!


