BB7 road calipers on MTB?

[d_douglas]

Strange question, but is it possible to use Avid BB7 ROAD calipers with old school cantilever MTB brake levers?

I have some Ritchey Logic levers that I would like to use, but I understand that they would pull too little cable to work effectively with the MTN version of these brakes.

Is it that simple?

[Mark McM]

Strange question, but is it possible to use Avid BB7 ROAD calipers with old school cantilever MTB brake levers?
...
Is it that simple?

Yes, it's pretty much that simple. Cantilever brake levers have about the same leverage ratio as road brake levers (about 4:1), so cantilever MTB levers mate well with road brakes (including road disc brakes).

I'm presently using such a setup on my MTB. I'm using a set of Suntour Ergo-Tec shifters. These came out just before the demise of Suntour in the mid-'90s, and are a cross between paddle shifters and twist shifters. The size and shape required for the internal mechanisms didn't allow regular brake levers to be installed next to them (well, if you tried, your fingers wouldn't reach the lever), so brake levers were integrated into the shifters. Unfortunately, cantilevers will still the most popular brakes on MTBs (at least for X-Country bikes), so the brake lever cable pull was designed for cantilevers. So, instead of Avid's standard MTB cable disc brakes, I'm using their road disc brakes, and everything is working fine.

[AndrewS]

Second everything Mark said.


Hey Mark, how are you keeping the Suntour system going? Have you just not worn out the cassette, yet, or have you adapted it to another system?

[Mark McM]

Hey Mark, how are you keeping the Suntour system going? Have you just not worn out the cassette, yet, or have you adapted it to another system?

I'm only using the the Suntour Ergo-Tec shifters - the rest of the drivetrain is made up of standard Shimano compatible componentry.

Suntour launched their Ergo-Tec shifters very close to the end (the original Suntour closed down in 1995), at a time when they saw the writing on the wall that they would have to make components that were "plug and play" (the catch phrase used when the new Suntour brand was launched by a different company). Suntour's shifter/derailleur cable pull and cassette spacing was already close to Shimano's, so with their MTB 8spd componentry they started moving even closer toward Shimano standards. So, the Ergo-Tec shifters work acceptably well with other 8spd MTB componentry.

[swimmingskibble]

I think it is a good idea. I too have friends and family that ask me to fix their bikes. Word of mouth spreads about how good (or bad) your work is. If you're good, people want your services. As far as tools go, I don't think there are many people out there that have all the right tools. Get the headset tools that you'll need, and the rest you can order whenever the necessity comes up.. That way you don't spend your life savings all at once.