Dia Compe brake hierarchy? MX1000, 901 etc

[dannywhiteley]

I just bought my first MX1000, a used rear caliper (was a front but now converted) and lever and paid £50 for it.

I just got back into BMX this time last year, and even as recently as 12 months ago, £35 for a full NOS set of 901's seemed 'pricey' to me.

Having gone for it though, I can really appreciate the MX1000 being a great looking brake caliper (do I need to get out more? ), and therefore am now considering upgrading the 901's on my TA and Streetbeat (when money allows).

However I digress...  With the generally accepted knowledge that MX1000's are top of the tree (atleast with regards to desirability if not always performance), I got to wondering just how and why a single used caliper can be worth significantly more than a full set of NOS 901's?  Are they really that much better?

With this in mind, and looking at the 1020 I replaced with the MX1000, I wonder what the ranking is in terms of desirability and performance of all the 80's DC brakes?

[Mattdub]

The MX900 or MX1000 is the most recognisable early to mid 80's brake out there & back then was the top dog for performance & usability hence it's inflated price now because of desirability . The testament to it's success is the amount of copies that came out of the woodwork even back then , IMO in the looks dept it just looked so good too that the taiwanese wanted some of that ! . The quick release on the MX 900/1000 was a very welcome advancement on the 890/1020 .

The 901 was mid to late 80's , a time when quite a few on here had moved on from BMX therefore making it less recognisable as "the" brake bitd .

[JT71]

dia compe bulldog, best caliper brake they made if you wanted to stop. fact.

they worked.


however they're mid school really i guess. 

the 901s probably work better than the mx1000s as the mx1000s I've seen tend to flex a bit. However, as Matt says most of us never saw 901s BITD, I never saw MX1000/900s either, when I bust my brakes on my Burner it got dia compe 1020s fitted as they came gold and were in stock  in the local shop, it was necessity rather than fashion.

£35 is such a bargain for 901s though you get a nice set of brakes for your money.
also the 880 sets are really nice brakes if you are doing a freestyle ride.

[davevilla]

The way that I've spec'd the brakes on my bikes is that MX1000/MX900s have been fitted on bikes from 1985 and prior. Anything post '85 has whatever DC were manufacturing at the time - so fs880/Mx901 set ups on my 1987 windstyler, 1986 Trickstar for example (although I'm sorely tempted to change these for MX1000s - hence destroying my 'rule'). My 1984 'Goose Cali has an MX1000 and so on...

I'm not sure this helps...however if you apply it to your late 80s builds helps to keep the cost down at least...

MX901s are a bargain and I thing JT71 is correct - the bulldog will probably stop you better than the rest.
 

[jimmyp]

dia compe bulldog, best caliper brake they made if you wanted to stop. fact.

they worked.


however they're mid school really i guess. 

the 901s probably work better than the mx1000s as the mx1000s I've seen tend to flex a bit. However, as Matt says most of us never saw 901s BITD, I never saw MX1000/900s either, when I bust my brakes on my Burner it got dia compe 1020s fitted as they came gold and were in stock  in the local shop, it was necessity rather than fashion.

£35 is such a bargain for 901s though you get a nice set of brakes for your money.
also the 880 sets are really nice brakes if you are doing a freestyle ride.

spot on

[Bigplinky]

901's have reach issues on somebikes aswell, you can't use one on te back of my Patterson they are too short (same as MX900) but if they do fit that are better "working" caliper than the MX1000/900 but they ain't a classic like the affore mentioned icon

[JT71]

yeah. the 901 wouldn't reach the front wheel on my Akisu either, so that is worth bearing in mind.

good point Mr bigplinky. 

[daz bmx it!]

Dc MX 1000's and 900's nice looking, expensive and defo not the best in the braking department! as mentioned earlier by JT71 the DC bulldog is the brake if you actually want to stop!

[welsh denny]

the dc nippon brakes were also great ( the allen bolt spindled ones) as they were stronger and less liable to coming loose. again ,these were later on (87) so some may not have seen em bitd....

[fouronethreeoh!]

Always liked the 901, traded a red mx1000 for a 901 bitd.

Especially good with a tech v(5) lever, my old school weapons of choice.

Recently bought a 901 caliper off ebay for 99p, bargain.

[dannywhiteley]

The 901 was mid to late 80's , a time when quite a few on here had moved on from BMX therefore making it less recognisable as "the" brake bitd .

So the 901's on my Streetbeat would fit with the era, its the TA I need to look at ideally I suppose.  Mind you, got to get rid of those twin pinchers first...

Abd I agree, the 901's are great brakes for the money they fetch.

[bobafett]

I think the 901's are a great set of brakes, I have them in most colours now, but I have to agree with what Joe is saying and admit that I don't remember them from BITD and obviously MX1000's are what most people are looking for on their builds as they fall in the "sweet spot" of the old school eras. With doing a lot of old gusseted mongoose builds i can often get away with 890's / 1020's as they were stock, but at the end of the day for an 80's NOS brake set the 901's are a bargain - well they are at the moment, I'm sure like anything else once they dry up a bit the price will go up - I've noticed on ebay that the black 901's are commanding a premium over other colours already, so i'm not letting go of my black 901's 
The thing with MX1000s is that it's hard sometimes if your doing a build that's centred around a frame you picked up for a 100 quid or so to spend more on the brakes than you did on the frame 

[Zippy]

My Team Pro came with MX900's (although at the time I thought they were 1000's). However as soon as the 901's came out in 85 I had a set and binned the 900's. 

I have to say I've always prefered the 901's as they were much better looking and actually worked well too.

[JT Smooth]

901s have 84 and 85 stamped on em, earlier than most folks think 

I also find they work better than 900/1000s 

[JT71]

901s have 84 and 85 stamped on em, earlier than most folks think 

I also find they work better than 900/1000s 

point 1: fact

point 2: fact

not a lot of people know this, you are right.

 

[ed_whiteley]

you defo need to get out more