Gravel disc brake question....

[Miller76]

I'm in the process of stripping down a Di2 equipped road bike and transferring most of the components over to a disc gravel frame.

The question I have is, do I stick with the current Di2 levers and run mechanical discs (spyre?) or do I try to sell the levers along with the road brakes and plumb for a set of di2 R785?

Open to suggestions and advice?

Thanks in advance


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[miguel]

Sell the levers and get the hydros

I've tried a lot of the mechanical dick brakes and none are great

[joosttx]

Sell the levers and get the hydros

I've tried a lot of the mechanical dick brakes and none are great

I 100% agree.

[David Kirk]

The cable brakes are fine......the wet brakes are really very very good and worth every cent.

Dave

[aosty]

Definitely go for the hydros.

[R3awak3n]

Hydrous are better but cable are fine. If you can afford go to the hydros

[commonguy001]

I've put more miles on Avid BB7s than I can remember and they work fine.

I just set my warbird up with the mechanical 685 hydro levers and 785 calipers and they are fantastic.

Do they Hydros if money isn't a big deal, you won't regret it.

[adhumston]

The cable brakes are fine......the wet brakes are really very very good and worth every cent.

Dave

Agree 100%. I have a bike using Sram red levers to Shimano CX77 calipers (cable), and they are great. Easily better than any of the caliper brakes I have (including Sram Red, Shimano Ultegra 6800, Campy Record 10, DA 7800, etc..). Modulation is better and overall stopping power is increased, though they aren't quite as easy to set up as the caliper brakes.

With the above being said, I also have a bike set up using Shimano R685... hands down the best brakes I have used. Honestly rivaling the XTR and Formula (the) One brakes on my good mtb bikes, and better than the Avid Juicys on my beater. The modulation is amazing, and the overall stopping power is superb (using ice tech rotors).

*disclaimer* I live and ride in Nebraska, so I don't have any major descents that I ride daily. The bikes referenced above are both built for and ridden mainly on gravel roads with rolling hills, though the cabled bike has been used on easy CO singletrack and a lot of CO fireroads with some steep descents.

[GRAVELBIKE]

I've had mechanical brakes seize up in wet, sub-freezing conditions. No such problems with hydraulic brakes, but IME mineral oil-brakes do get sluggish when the temps drop below freezing.

[Thrashin]

Cant beat shimano hydros, but spyres do work great. far better than any other mechanical i have set up

[Miller76]

Thanks for the feedback, looks like I'll be ordering the hydros - looking forward to the build.

[jimoots]

Question similarly in line that will likely contribute...

I've found with Rival levers + Avid Road BB7's you have to run the pads so close to the disc that it's pretty difficult to result in a setup that doesn't rub unless you compromise lever throw.

Is this something that is a cable issue and is sorted with hydro, or just specific to the road BB7 caliper?

Thanks.

[Miller76]

What size discs are you running on your bikes? 160/140 or 160 all round?

TIA

[aosty]

I run 160/140 and pretty happy with it.

[GRAVELBIKE]

Question similarly in line that will likely contribute...

I've found with Rival levers + Avid Road BB7's you have to run the pads so close to the disc that it's pretty difficult to result in a setup that doesn't rub unless you compromise lever throw.

Is this something that is a cable issue and is sorted with hydro, or just specific to the road BB7 caliper?

Thanks.

If you don't pre-load the actuator arm, you'll lose a bunch of lever travel (which necessitates running the pads extremely close to the rotor).

I've used road BB7s with several flavors of SRAM levers, and as long as I pre-loaded the actuator arms, they worked fine.