Caliper brands

[Rusty_S85]

Well I was looking at the store I ordered my wheels from yesterday and found they got calipers and they are considerably cheaper.

Thing is I don't want to get junk.

So far I am looking at 160mm rotors front and rear as the front forks are listed as 160mm max rotor size. Rear on my frame there is no mention but the HD wheel kit sold for it comes with a 180mm rotor so I think I can swing down sizing down to a 160 mm rotor.

Aside from that the calipers I found are as follows.

Yining brand for $15.99 for front or rear.
Alhonga brand for $21.99 for front or rear.

Rotor I am looking at for front and rear are 160mm round rotors with holes drilled in. I never been a fan of the fancy shaped rotors think a rotor should be round not star shaped or flower shaped. They are listed as ISO Standard hole pattern so they should fit my hubs but I might have to get different bolts as I do not know if the adapter are threaded the same as the bolts included with the rotors but that is nothing major.

In the end what does everyone think of the Yining and Alhonga brands?

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

Those are not even brands. Presumably junk. Not that I have even goggled those. Where do you find these obscure bike parts?
But you can use goggle to find reviews of any decent quality bike parts.
Avid BB7 is the only cable disc brake you really need, according to the reviews.
But I never even had one, because I don't buy better cable brakes when I upgrade brakes from basic low end cable brakes.

 

[Rusty_S85]

Well the place I bought my wheels from they have the Avid BB7 caliper for $29.99 but they only have a front one they don't have a rear one.

Well I hit up amazon and apparently they fit front or rear dunno why this place says they are front only.

Only thing is I would buy them from this place as Amazon wants $70 for the same caliper.

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

Well the place I bought my wheels from they have the Avid BB7 caliper for $29.99 but they only have a front one they don't have a rear one.

So get two front ones? It's calliper only, no lever? I'm almost sure they're identical (because nearly everything is).
The Avid BB7 has both "piston" pads active. Cheapo basic brakes only have one (left) active pad. Even low end cable discs from the big brands like Shimano have only one active pad. You'll enjoy the difference I'm sure.

 

[Rusty_S85]

Oh I would just buy two fronts its also only the caliper no lever and no rotor. I don't know if I should run the Avid style rotor but I really am liking the look of the round rotor I want to run.

The lever I want to run is a dual cable lever so I can operate front and rear brakes with one lever. My plan if possible is to adjust the cable so front calipers are a little looser on the cable so the rear engages first.

The Avid Rotor

Round rotor I want to run instead.

But if these calipers the BB7`s will work on my front fork and on my welded frame mount I will go with them. I mean hell why not spend $60 on two good calipers vs spending $40 on two questionable calipers.

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

They'll work. They're probably post mount? So should come with a PM-IS adapter. If not they're only a few $ each on eBay.
The rotor will work fine, I'm sure.
The standard Avid "organic"/"resin" pads will be fine for summer/road use too. Brakes (with non-sintered pads) take a while to bed in and get full braking power.
Also you must keep the rotors from getting contaminated and clean them with isopropyl alcohol if they get oil on them. If the brakes squeal then remove the pads and rough them up on some fine sandpaper and clean the rotors, then bed them in again.
The cables are the only problem with cable brakes. Get the Jagwire "pro" cable kit and maintain them religiously.

 

[Rusty_S85]

They are post mount but they come with the adapter shown in the photo for $29.99 from where I bought the wheels from.

Thanks for the recommendations and on the cable, I didn't even look at cables yet and don't even know what length cables I will need. Might wait till after I get the bike assembled for the most part so I can get measurements.

 

[Rusty_S85]

Will have to wait and see might not be able to run calipers front and rear.

My HD 61mm grubee hub came in today and the paperwork in the box says "single speed HD axle for 135mm drop out frames" but yet over on Bicycle-Engines it states the 61mm HD axle is for 150mm drop out frame single speed and 51mm HD axle is for multi speed 150mm drop out and single speed 135mm drop out. I emailed Grubee and they got back with me saying I will have to space the axle out to fit the wider frame.

So it comes with a couple washers and a few nuts so instead of using spacers I should be able to use the nuts as jam nuts to lock the axle to the frame without the use of spacers. Down side is I don't know how close I can align the wheel in this frame while maintaining alignment with everything else from the caliper down to the drive chains.

I don't know how Grubee can offer a 150mm drop out frame but don't offer a 150mm drop out HD axle just for it.