I am still trying to decide between going hydro or cable. I keep reading such amazing reviews on the Avid Cable discs. My question is whether the Avid BBDB's require a lever with a return spring?? I currently run Paul Love Levers and as they don;t have a return spring wondering if I decide to go cable, can I keep 'em? Thanx in advance!!

if you dont have a return spring, you're bound to have some trouble. there is a lot more housing to get to the disc brake and this added friction will cause glitches.

I'm not sure how much it would help, but you can adjust the spring tension on the caliper itself using a small (2, 3 mm allen) bolt. Not sure if this would be enough to pull the cable back through the housing though.

the problem is it has to PUSH the cable through, and that's a *****.

Either you like the feel of no lever return springs or your don't -- shouldn't matter V or mech disc.

If your setup *needs* a lever return spring to operate properly, your housing is in need of some serious TLC.

no return spring needed

fanatic is right. My old Avid Ultimate levers don't have a return spring. A lever return spring would just reduce performance anyway. The Avid mechanical discs should use the spring of the caliper to return the lever. Adjust the cable just for no slack with lever all the way out, adjust lever throw with the caliper's pad adjuster red knobs.

You just need V-brake compatible levers. Although the ability to tune the leverage is nice with the Avid Speed Dial type levers. Even the cheapest Avid SD levers are very high quality and comfortable.

Of the hydros, I'd only get Hayes or Avid, or if I was a weight weenie Magura Martas. It would be nice to not have to tweak with the mechanical adjusters every few rides. But I like the Avids for their simplicity to work on.

- ray

if you dont have a return spring, you're bound to have some trouble. there is a lot more housing to get to the disc brake and this added friction will cause glitches.

It is not an issue. I remove the return springs in most my levers (they stay in road STI). It does nothing to improve the braking and just requires extra hand effort to apply the brakes. I use full length housing and Teflon coated cables. Very smooth and easy.

the problem is it has to PUSH the cable through, and that's a *****.

It is the lever spring that pushes the cable. The spring at the brake pulls on the cable when you release the lever.