Mechanical disc brake suggestions please

I run BB7s on what was my commuter - work absolutley fine - fit and forget.  Cheap as chips relatively, and fuss-free.

I have Spyres and they're great, very easy to set up and maintain. Although I know hydro's would be much better, I would also realistically have to upgrade to 1 x 11, which would mean a new cassette, chain & possibly a chainring..

+1 for TRP Spyres. As long as your pads remain clean of oil or soapy water (the latter of which they'll clear after a few successive hard stops), they're as reliable as you'd want a cable-pull disc brake to be. Staying on top of their maintenance is very easy too, which goes a long way towards mitigating the need to keep them adjusted every so often when regularly ridden.

For some reason, in my country, there's a bias between the shiny silver Spyres and their OE Spyre-C counterparts with their matte black actuating stirrup arms. They're the same exact caliper save for that cosmetic difference.

I bought a pair of Spyre-Cs in the hopes of upgrading a future bike I plan to buy for my wife, but in the interim, I ran one of them on the rear of my TCX to test. No complaints. That said, if you're still getting into trouble with well-adjusted Spyres, you might want to consider an upgrade to hydraulics or cable-actuated hydraulics.

Regarding the Paul Klampers:

I've read their supposed biggest advantage is just how beefy they are, because they're machined and rigid as a rock. That way, more of the forces going into the caliper actually go into clamping down on the rotor and making you stop. I can certainly see the added beef they have compared to a Spyre unit (which explains their added weight), but I don't quite understand why they couldn't go with a similar twin-piston design as TRP did...methinks it's down to tight clearances not allowing this. Their cost is considerable, too.

I have the TRP Spyres on my tourer. Not as ultimately powerful as the hydraulic Hopes on my sons downhiller but plenty good enough once set up, and as someone else said when it rains, they just work - no "will they won't they - ouch" as the rim rotates and water is swept off it, then suddenly biting.

They are much more powerful than the cantilevers on my previous tourer once set up properly - get the instructions right, route the cable properly over the lever at the caliper end, with that bit at the correct angle to get maximum mechanical advantage and hey presto - you're there! TRP video for these is very informative.

Brake pads and the disc itself, as ever, can affect the performance, and sintered pads make a lot of noise in the dry I've found on the Aztec discs I am using.

PS I'vedeliberately avoided hydraulics on the bike for simpilicity's sake - I don't want to ride off in a few years time and find a seal has gone leaving me with no brake!

I have two identical Kinesis ATRs except for the brakes: TRP Spyre and TRP Hy/Rd - the Hy/Rd are significantly better so another vote for the cable/hydraulic hybrid. As a heavy (very) rider its the first time I've had brakes that I can take to full locking with ease (when its required). 

I've actually migrated from BB5 to BB7 to the TRPs over the years. Going from BB7 to Sprye won't really deliver any increase in full stopping power in my experience - the big benefit is that once the brakes are well setup on the Sprye they tend to stay that way a lot longer whereas I found the BB7s needed frequent readjusting to get them back to best performance. But the Hy/Rd will also deliver that benefit. 

I currently run mtb BB7s on my CX with last gen (not the latest ones but the last gen before they were discontinued) Campag Centaur levers. There is a fair bit of pull, but they bite just fine and dont run out of pull before locking the wheel. The reason? They were cheap as chips compared to the road version at the time. I feel your pain with regards to the constant adjustments... I use my CX bike as a winter trainer / commuter and the inner adjustment wheel seizes up regularly on account of the road salt / crap that accululates there... 

If I were to upgrade I would go mech/hydro (Hy:Rds), but if I absolutely positively HAD to stay fully mechanical, TRP Spyres would be my choice. 

I used to have BB5s which were pretty dire and required constant adjustment. For the last year I have used Acor hydro/mechanical - same as juintech R1. They have been excellent - easy to set up and adjust, good modulation, hardly ever need adjusting etc. I think they were just over £100 for the pair. They're cheaper, lighter and less clunky looking than Hy Rds.

I've got Hy:Rds on one bike and Juin Tech R1s on the other and both are brilliant brakes. I did have to bypass the cable guide on the chainstay with the R1s cause of the cable stop being outboard and leave the outer loosely zip-tied to the frame.

This is an interesting hybrid solution.   Anyone know how well they work?

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/conduct-hydraulic-disc-brake-upgrade-k...

I've had hydraulic and its nice. Bike was stolen and now I've got a cross-bike with mechanical BB7 and a racer with caliper brakes. Why not forget disc brakes all together if you're tight on money?

I also don't like the BB7's very much, always noisy when moving the bike around, though on the road they perform as expected = they stop the bike! And yes, the hydraulics were nice but don't give any important benefits I think. You might save a few yeard in the wet, with calipers you just start braking a bit sooner. Both systems will easily lock up the wheels if you brake too hard, so discs do not brake better. Unless you need to win a pro race in the wet going down a mountain, what's the point? For MTB's it's another question.

Actually, of the three systems I prefer my caliper brakes. And actually I also prefer the way they 'modulate' compared to disc brakes, they feel better to me. Plus calipers are so easy and cheap to maintain. All in all I find disc brakes a bit of a pain in the a... with very limited, if any, real benefits at all.

I know its hydromechanical but I'm about to put a pair of these on my GT Grade

https://www.edgesportsuk.com/store/juin-tech/road-cx/juin-tech-r1-hydrau...

I changed the housings on my mechanical brkes to compressionless an it made a world of difference

The best mechanical brake available is not Spyre but Paul Klamper. £200 though...

It's the only caliper with the moving piston guided via pins which guarantees that the pads are always square to the rotor = smallest possible gap with no rub. It runs on oversized ball bearings and uses thrust bearing for the actuation arm insted of bushing/washer. You also have big dials on both sides for easy pad adjustment.

Cable routing is always critical. Run it short and smooth. Ignore existing frame guides/stops if they create tight bends.

Another +1 for TRP Spyres. Replaced my BB5's with them, much better. Not as good feel as my hydro 685's and not as powerful, but more than enough for the road commuting/winter road riding I do on them.

I run TRP Spyres on my commuter/CX having ditched the truly rubbish BB5's that were fitted.

They do exactly what I need them to do, are easy to set up and there are loads of cheap and effective replacement pad options (I use sintered pads from Discobrakes).

My old commuter had Avid Elixir hydraulics which have better stopping power but waaaay less control of that power than the Spyres.

Agree with Mike on this one, TRP Spyre the best of the cable operated bunch.

I've found them to be plenty powerful enough for the riding I do and comparable to certainly 105 rim brakes.  If you're descending at very high speed into repetive tight turns they won't be up to the same standard as high end calipers or hydraulics.   

Wet weather performance is very consistent too.

As Mike says, easy to set up and replacement pads plentiful and inexpensive.

Being a tightwad I have tried almost every cable disc system in the known universe before finally admitting defeat and going hydraulic.  The difference between the two types is night and day and I have never found a mechanical brake that comes anywhere close to hydraulic.

But, without doubt, the best of the cables is the TRP Spyre.  I paid about £120 for mine, they may be cheaper now?  It has twin pistons in each calliper, which eliminates unwanted disc rub, and is simple to set up and maintain.  It also looks pretty good and genuine Shimano replacement pads are both ubiquitous and cheap.  

Where the Spyres are lacking is outright power, they just don't have it and although they were an improvement on what went before, I don't think they were as effective as a good rim brake set-up.

Best of luck.