How to Install a BB5 Brake

The SRAM Corporation is a manufacturer of bicycle components, founded in 1987 in Chicago, Illinois. For most of its time in the industry, it has focused on either purchasing or forming strategic alliances with other component manufacturers, to develop entire lines of products from scratch, rather than incurring the extra expense of reselling them. One of these companies, Avid, produces a line of mechanical disc brakes known as the BB5. The proper tools make installation of these brakes a fairly straightforward process.

Things You'll Need

  • Hex wrench with removable heads
  • 5mm hex wrench head
  • 2mm hex wrench head
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Instructions

    • 1

      Pinch the brake pads of the front wheel together and pull out the cable tie, holding them closed with your fingers, which allows it to slide open.

    • 2

      Flip the bicycle upside down and rest it on its seat and handlebars. Unlock the quick-release lever on the front wheel, and loosen it with your fingers as necessary, until you can pull it free of the wheel assembly. Pull the front wheel free of the bicycle.

    • 3

      Unscrew the bolts, holding the existing brake pads in place with your hex wrench and 5mm head, and remove them from the bicycle.

    • 4

      Position the front BB5 brake pads in place, lining up the bolt holes in the BB5 over the bolt threads in the bicycle. Screw the bolts into place, but do not tighten them yet.

    • 5

      Adjust the height and angle of the pads so they contact the center of the rim, while remaining parallel to it.

    • 6

      Adjust the toe of the brake pads so their front edges contact with the rim before the rear ones.

    • 7

      Tighten the bolts of the BB5 securely, to complete the installation of the front pad.

    • 8

      Repeat Steps 1 through 7 for the rear brake pad, if you are replacing it as well.