Brakes; mechanical or hydraulic?

[Max Effort]

Currently building a Bikepacking bike.
Wondering whether to go for mechanical disc brakes (Avid BB7), or hydraulic.
Any advice & recommended would be much appreciated.
Thank you

[yourguitarhero]

Mechanical ones cabled to a down tube friction shifter are the most exciting style to ride.

[jameso]

I have a regularly-used bike with 15 year old XT hydros on (3 or 4 bleeds in that time, the occasional piston area lube, that's it) so I won't say cables are more reliable, but I do use cable discs on the 2 bikes I do my bikepacking and road touring on. It's partly about travelling with a packed bike with the wheels out, mainly because it gives me a choice of levers (and shifters on the drop bar bike) but also how easy it is to adjust pad position. They do need a bit more attention to stay running but it's easy. The power and feel from a good cable disc set up well with quality cables is excellent, it'll never be quite as smooth as a hydro due to the potential for cable drag but that's not something that bothers me. I am a fan of the bombproof lo-fi approach to bikes though so I tend to use the cheaper, simpler options on bikes. I like the BB7 more than the TRP Spryes and Spykes after a few years on each, they have better modulation imo, though I see why some prefer the TRP for the twin-piston design.

[Lazarus]

Hydraulic . More power and never had a seal issue when in use.
Will bleed them before a big long (multi day) ride. That said my road bike were done about 4000 miles ago and are still fine my mtb is 2500 on new brakes without service.
Cable is simpler (but its less power*) and potentially trail servicsble but its such a low risk i would not bother

*they will both stop you

[Bearbonesnorm]

I've fitted / used both and both work well enough. Like James I'm a fan of BB7 and they've never caused me any grief beyond a frozen cable on very cold occasions. Cheap Shimano hydro have caused me grief with micro-leaks but maybe that's a problem of the past? I've never had any issues with Hope and like their repair rather than replace ethos.

If I were building a bike today, I'd likely go for BB7 as they're reasonably cheap and will let me mix and match other components more easily.

[whitestone]

I've BB7s on the fat bike, TRP Spyres on the Genesis CdF and Hopes on the Solaris and Spearfish.

Out of the three I'd say the Spyres are least inspyring (sorry). Even though I've got good quality outers they seem to go soft really quickly. They take the "standard" Shimano brake pads so you can get replacements just about anywhere.

Be wary of using BB7s with Hope rotors - the "rivet" that holds the inner and outer parts of the rotor together catches the installer pins (not sure of their correct name) on the pads so you get a constant, tk, tk, tk, tk sound. Cutting the pins solves the issue but means it's harder to install and remove the pads. Having a single piston is a bit of a weird one but once you get your head around the setup it's not too bad. They are pretty easy to strip down and service as well.

I originally had Shimano brakes on the Solaris but got the micro-leak issue, just outside the two year warranty of course, at which point they needed almost constant sorting out so switched to Hope and haven't had any problems with those in the seven years they've been on the bike. Not even had to bleed them. They are a bit "agricultural" in design though - the levers have lots of (weight saving?) holes in them that become a bit of a pain on multi-day rides, I got some rubber "fingers" to go over them which sorted that out.

[redefined_cycles]

I used to love my bb7. But after using hydro for years (mainly Avid in them days, but now Shimano) I once tried to go back to them. Best way I can desribe it was when going back to v brakes from the BB7

I'd definitely go hydro despite having had problems of squeal on various iterations of the SLX.

[RobLyon]

Generally Hope or cable... maybe Magura but they are almost Hope money and more plasticky.

[atk]

I keep coming back to BB7 after stints with other mechanical brakes (Shimano cx something, spyres and about to go back from a set of klampers) and occasionally trying to find the motivation to learn how to setup hydros (there's an unfitted set of xtr brakes in the cellar...).

They aren't the best brake in the world, but they are far from being the worst. I just wish there was a flat mount version/I didn't have a flat mount fork and an ugly adapter.

[Scattamah]

For me, hydraulics...all day, every day. I've SLX, XT and XTR on the 3 bikes...and they have all been excellent over the last 10 years.
The XTR down the Burway this morning were as good as when I got them 7 or 8 years ago.
Never had a problem with the hoses when travelling. Knock on wood this continues.

Greetz

S : )

[Hamish]

I keep coming back to BB7 after stints with other mechanical brakes (Shimano cx something, spyres and about to go back from a set of klampers)

Out of interest… What made you decide to move back to BB7s from Klampers? I had always thought they were probably the best cable disk brakes if you were happy with the price.

I have a set of Growtac Equalls on my Fargo and they are great. Not had them long though.

[boxelder]

I've had cable dics on an MTB for a couple of years, having been exclusively hydro. They're fine, but on a couple of occasions have faded on long steep descents, once causing me to deliberately steer into bracken coming down Honister. Could be a pad issue? When I get around to it the old (now serviced) Hope X2 are going back on.

[PeterC]

Bear in mind I'm more at the bimbly sit back and enjoy the scenery end of bikepacking. Got back into cycling after a long hiatus in 2016. Three bikes with discs as follows.

2016. Kona Sutra (touring) Hayes CX perfectly adequate, enough stopping power for touring and gravel use, definitely better than the V brakes I was used to.

2018. Genesis Longitude, came with cheaper Shimano hydraulics developed microleaks,(on the Cairngorm loop)couldn't fix them, thought about replacing them with another set of hydraulics but went for TRP Spykes and Jagwire cables. Faultless so far and more than enough stopping power for my needs bearing in mind no last minute breaking for me! Very easy to maintain and use Shimano pads. (Can't compare the to BB7's as I haven't tried those).

2018 model bought in sale 2020. Felt road bike, Tiagra hydraulics, rear caliper failed after a couple of months, caliper replaced under warrenty.

So, for me, more remote bikepacking, maybe some distance from any shop that might have spares, I much prefer the simplicity of cable discs, YMMV of course!

[benp1]

I have BB7s on my cargo bike. With a properly loaded bike (couple of kids and stuff) it’s fine but not inspiring, I’ve been meaning to put a hydro on the front but I’ve had it nearly 5 years and it’s worked fine. Slightly unfair though, when loaded probably weighs twice what a fully loaded bikepacking bike does

Hydros on all my other bikes

[Lazarus]

So, for me, more remote bikepacking, maybe some distance from any shop that might have spares, I much prefer the simplicity of cable discs, YMMV of course

All your failures are shimano and inwould not have them on my bikepacking bike as its a lnown weak point / issue. IME bled brakea from other makers last thousands of miles / years without issue

[fatbikephil]

Has anyone tried both i.e those Juin tech brakes that have a cable actuated hydraulic caliper? My (drop bar) TRP's are getting a bit dicky and new ones cost a fortune so I was thinking of giving the Juin techs a whirl.

[Lazarus]

Has anyone tried both

I had the hy rd version
More powerful than mechanical less powerful tha full hydro.
Pain to set up and bleed and not at all interested in ever doing that again.
Small sample size and would be keen but for the faff (perhaps later itterstions are better as they were first model)

[RobLyon]

Has anyone tried both i.e those Juin tech brakes that have a cable actuated hydraulic caliper? My (drop bar) TRP's are getting a bit dicky and new ones cost a fortune so I was thinking of giving the Juin techs a whirl.

Not tried them but it sounds like the worst of both options.

[Joe]

Has anyone tried both i.e those Juin tech brakes that have a cable actuated hydraulic caliper? My (drop bar) TRP's are getting a bit dicky and new ones cost a fortune so I was thinking of giving the Juin techs a whirl.

I have the Juintech GTPs on one of my bikes, they work really well, not quite full hydro but nicer than BB7s and easier to set up. Only issue I'm wary of (but haven't experienced) is that with a small reservoir of hydraulic fluid they may be more prone to overheating that full hydros. Probably only a problem on long descents where you drag the brake a lot.

[whitestone]

Has anyone tried both i.e those Juin tech brakes that have a cable actuated hydraulic caliper? My (drop bar) TRP's are getting a bit dicky and new ones cost a fortune so I was thinking of giving the Juin techs a whirl.

I think Hope road brakes are like this: hydraulic caliper with cable lever - https://www.hopetech.com/products/brake ... 4-caliper/, compatible with most recent Shimano and SRAM brake levers by the looks of it.

[Bearlegged]

No, the Hopes are full hydro. They do two versions for SRAM/Shimano to cater for the different fluids.

[fatbikephil]

I have the Juintech GTPs on one of my bikes, they work really well, not quite full hydro but nicer than BB7s and easier to set up. Only issue I'm wary of (but haven't experienced) is that with a small reservoir of hydraulic fluid they may be more prone to overheating that full hydros. Probably only a problem on long descents where you drag the brake a lot.

Cheers Joe that ties on with reviews I've read but good to hear real world feedback.

Main appeal is being able to use cane creek brake levers which are my favourite!

[sean_iow]

No, the Hopes are full hydro. They do two versions for SRAM/Shimano to cater for the different fluids.

Hope used to do a brake where the master cylinders mounted under the stem and the cables from the levers operated them, so you could use your existing brifters and add hydro discs. Discontinued now.

As for the original question, I've had issues with my Hopes where the pistons stick/jamb in the bores and the pads drag (X2 and E4) which seems to occur when the pads get low. I was considering swapping to cable brakes for this reason but don't go away enough to justify the expense.

I've also had the cable freeze on a BB7 equipped bike which stopped the brake from working but I cleaned out the inner and added plenty of oil and it's not happened again. There is a low point in the routing (going under the BB) and I think any moisture that got in accumulated there.

[whitestone]

As for the original question, I've had issues with my Hopes where the pistons stick/jamb in the bores and the pads drag (X2 and E4) which seems to occur when the pads get low. I was considering swapping to cable brakes for this reason but don't go away enough to justify the expense.

Do you clean and lightly oil the sides of the pistons when changing pads? (Not when on the trail but at home). Whenever I've had that happen doing a deep clean followed by a light lube, a couple of drops of oil on a cotton bud, sorts things out. I tend to do it twice a year anyway. If you do a search there's a Hope video about it.

[sean_iow]

As for the original question, I've had issues with my Hopes where the pistons stick/jamb in the bores and the pads drag (X2 and E4) which seems to occur when the pads get low. I was considering swapping to cable brakes for this reason but don't go away enough to justify the expense.

Do you clean and lightly oil the sides of the pistons when changing pads? (Not when on the trail but at home). Whenever I've had that happen doing a deep clean followed by a light lube, a couple of drops of oil on a cotton bud, sorts things out. I tend to do it twice a year anyway. If you do a search there's a Hope video about it.

I use the recommended silicon grease as per the rebuild instructions, purchased when fitting new pistons to one of the E4 calipers. I have a theory the issue might occur if the pads don't wear evenly if I don't have the caliper exactly lined up with the disc. It occurs more often with the E4 but there are twice as many pistons to get stuck