Trust me theyre worth saving for, just make sure you get 185mm clean-sweep rotors front and back, speed dial levers and some good quality cables. Gore ride-on sealed brake cables are the best, the one i've got on the front i've had for 3 years and never had to change it. the rear needs changing a bit more often, i've got an XT on there now and it works well. If you don't fit the cables cleanly they let mud and water in and then they're useless.

I've had BB7's for 3 years now and they're still going strong. I've got a spare caliper in my tool box so can't see me getting rid of them any time soon. The people who poke fun at these brakes don't know what they're talking about! with a 185mm clean-sweep rotor they have bags of stopping power and modulation. I've tried hope mini pro's (spongey) and formula k18's (wooden) in comparison. You get two adjustment wheels at the rotor so you're never pulling the lever all the way to the bar and with speed-dial levers you can adjust the feel at the lever. Only the top-end hydraulics on the market have this level of adjustment! And if you break them on the trail there's no mess, just take the whole unit off and put it in your bag and carry on riding. Simpl, no fuss and they just work..