Tired of these crappy brakes. Want to upgrade.

[nukezero]

I have these Tektro Novela brakes and they are extremely bad to work with. They have magnetic pads. They are very tedious to adjust and I literally spent an hour to align and adjust both the front and rear wheels. This happens each time I have to remove the wheel or just to prevent them from rubbing.

I heard some great things about Avid BB5s and BB7. Right now, I'm leaning towards the Avid BB7 MTB S Mechanical.

The stock Tektro Novela caliper has a 180mm rotor. I want to upgrade to a Avid HS1 200mm rotor. What needs to be done? Do I need to buy a special bracket or check that my fork can support it?

 

[teklektik]

If you order a BB7 brake kit, it will come with front and rear caliper mount adapters to match the rotor.
Check Price Point for good prices...

 

[Chalo]

I have these Tektro Novela brakes and they are extremely bad to work with. [...]
I heard some great things about Avid BB5s and BB7. Right now, I'm leaning towards the Avid BB7 MTB S Mechanical.

Forget about the BB5. If you must use discs, use the BB7 and you won't be disappointed.

But if your bike can take V-brakes (it must have frame studs and rim-brake-compatible rims), a set of Tektro or Shimano Deore V-brakes with Kool-Stop Salmon pads and a booster arch will outperform any disc I have come across, and do it at a fraction of the price of a BB7.

Discs become the best option when you want to use superfat tires or when you want to switch among different rim sizes. Or when that's the only brake your bike will accept.

 

[iperov]

I used Avid BB5, perfect mechanic brakes,
but Hayes MX4 better.

 

[Drunkskunk]

Nothing wrong with BB5s, they are a good solid brake, probaly in the top 5 disk brakes made.
But the BB7 is So Much Better and only a couple of bucks more. It makes no sense to get a BB5 unless your budget is extremely tight.

 

[nukezero]

So it sounds like BB7 MTN S is the best solution for me. But I kind of want to go hydraulic because I was told that unlike mechanical, both brake pads move at the same time. This feels much better as it's designed like a car.

So I'm looking for hydraulic that has the e-brake incorporated. My Tektro Novela brake levers has ebrake integrated into it. Tektro does have hydraulic ebrake kits like the Tektro E-Sub but they said it is OEM Only.. So does that mean that I can't get those parts myself?

Thanks

 

[d8veh]

Tektro Auriga E-comp have the brake switch in them.I don't know of any others, but there must be some somewhere. You're right that hydraulic brakes are better.
http://www.tektro.com/_english/01_products/01_prodetail.php?pid=132&sortname=Disc&sort=1&fid=1

 

[Chalo]

So it sounds like BB7 MTN S is the best solution for me. But I kind of want to go hydraulic because I was told that unlike mechanical, both brake pads move at the same time. This feels much better as it's designed like a car.

You bike is not a car, so what works best for a car doesn't necessarily work best for it.

Hydraulic brakes cost extra, are much more of a hassle to get the hose lengths right versus setting up cable housings, are not at all field-serviceable and are not even user-serviceable by most users, and when they fail to work correctly they don't work even a little bit. None for me, thanks.

Bicycle brake rotors are designed to flex slightly sideways to accommodate a fixed pad; in this regard they can be considered "semi-floating". Car brake rotors are thick and stiff, so both opposed brake pads must move.

BB7 brakes offer independent tools-free positioning of both pads, so they are very easy to set up for optimum function. Hydraulics offer no advantages over this, but they have numerous disadvantages. "My car has them" is not an advantage.

 

[cal3thousand]

So it sounds like BB7 MTN S is the best solution for me. But I kind of want to go hydraulic because I was told that unlike mechanical, both brake pads move at the same time. This feels much better as it's designed like a car.

You bike is not a car, so what works best for a car doesn't necessarily work best for it.

Hydraulic brakes cost extra, are much more of a hassle to get the hose lengths right versus setting up cable housings, are not at all field-serviceable and are not even user-serviceable by most users, and when they fail to work correctly they don't work even a little bit. None for me, thanks.

Bicycle brake rotors are designed to flex slightly sideways to accommodate a fixed pad; in this regard they can be considered "semi-floating". Car brake rotors are thick and stiff, so both opposed brake pads must move.

BB7 brakes offer independent tools-free positioning of both pads, so they are very easy to set up for optimum function. Hydraulics offer no advantages over this, but they have numerous disadvantages. "My car has them" is not an advantage.

There are plenty of cheaper cars with single pot floating calipers though and the 2+ pot fixed are better in every regard (wrt cars).

I have recently seen a twin pot cable disc for bikes, but don't remember where they are.

I do believe that with the right adjustment, BB7s are great brakes. The best method I have found uses 2 business cards to align the pad/caliper. It's on Youtube somewhere IIRC.


OP:

Not all hydraulics have 2 pots; many cheaper ones are singles.