Anyone know anything about disc brakes?

You'll want to use DOT fluid unless they're the mineral oil SRAM brakes.

I know DOT fluid goes in the system, but it won’t even handle a dab of mineral oil on the exterior of the piston to grease it up a little?

Fucking SRAM

The seals are made for DOT so mineral can degrade them, and mineral and DOT mixing makes yukky fluid.

Solution: throw brakes in bin, replace with shimano

I think that you'll have more success by just dropping the wheel out and walking each of the pistons out individually. A dab of oil on the outside probably won't do much as the seals should do their job and keep it all out.

Bb7 road or Shimano Tiagra?
Which is the least shite?

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Both are equally shite.

I'll go Tiagra, chunky but at least the bits won't pop off.

BB7s are not shite. BB7s are incredible if, and I'll admit it's a big if, you apply patience and set them up properly.

Very powerful, easy to adjust, easy to maintain. My set have never felt close to being underpowered, even fully loaded steel touring bike down the big hills.

I was a bit harsh as I compared them to hydraulics.

BB7 do tend to lose those 2 red bits, which are crucial to getting the pads adjusted which is my point when compared to the other offering.

BB7s are legacy tech, an absolute pain to set up and maintain. Hydraulic brakes are far, far superior.

Long live the BB7.

On hydro brakes, does anyone have a good guide for swapping over hydro calipers? I've never actually swapped some over before, and want to swap flat mount for post mount.

It completely depends on the hose connection. If they've both got the same hose connection (Banjo or compression nut) then I would suggest:

1. Tilt the bike so the brake is the highest point.
   
2. Undo the banjo bolt or compression nut.
   
3. Replace caliper on frame.
   
4. Reinstall hose to new caliper.
   
   

If the new caliper is already bled, then you probably won't need to bleed them. If the new caliper doesn't have any fluid in it already, then do a gravity bleed.

Easiest way is probably to rig the new calipers higher than the levers, undo the bolt from the old, whack the hose in the new and then attach bleed cup or syringe andpush enough fluid from the lever to either fill or bleed any air out depending on whether the new caliper is pre bled. I'd then fit them and push a little fluid back to the levers or burp them. That's assuming mineral oil that looks good on the bits coming out, if it's grubby or DOT then might as well do a full bleed whilst you're fucking about.

Similar answers so probably a good place to start.

Thanks for the conflicting advice on bb vs shim ;D
I know they aren’t as good as hydro, but it’s for the front of a fixed so won’t really be doing much heavy lifting on a regular basis. I want to be able to swap bars levers around without the faff of fluid.
I’ll use the ones with the newest pads in then. The BB7 is the winner, for now.

Really is nothing to worry about, they wouldn't have been around for over 20 years unchanged if they weren't decent brakes.

Take the time to sort them up per here :

http://howtosetuptheavidbb7.weebly.com/how-to-set-up-the-avid-bb7.html

they wouldn't have been around for over 20 years unchanged if they weren't decent brakes.

You can still buy rod brakes and cantis unchanged and they're shit but they've been superseded. BB7s are fine however especially if cable discs is what you need, they're one of the few things still branded Avid and the mounting hardware makes up for poorly faced disc tabs. The red bits usually survive ok if you don't polo and they're cheap to replace.

We used to call Avid "Avoid", and then SRAM bought them, so that now stands for "Should Really Avoid, Mate"

Any recommendations for hydro hose couplings? I'd really like to be able to swap the CruX between rigid and squish without having to mess with internal bar routing every time, which would require re-wrapping.

TRP TI1.3 Brake Hose Connector

It does require bleeding most times

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I got my son a second hand cross bike a while back running Shimano BR-RS785 hydraulic calipers. The pads were pretty worn and the front brake was pretty ineffective. So just replaced all the pads and cleaned the rotors and now the back wheel is really solid but the front is still not gripping properly. Is it just a case of bedding in the pads or does it need bleeding?

Spongy or just not stopping the rotor? Or both?

Spongy - bleed (would recommend bleeding front and back on a second hand bike anyway).

No friction - contaminated pad or disc. So could be that the disc is scoured and needs a rub with emery / wet n dry.

They do feel a bit spongy actually so bleeding them sounds like the best course of action.

I’m no expert, btw, this has just been my experience.

I am in the unfortunate situation where I need some DOT. Does it need to be fresh or can I use some that's been open for a few years?

If not- is there any difference between DOT 5.1, I can get some cheap from Halfrauds or do I need some luxury SRAM fluid?