I was looking at the Zero Gravity brakes but confirmed with HED today that they will not work with their new wider C2 wheels that I just purchased. I’m probably putting either the new Dura Ace or Campy Super Record components on my bike. If I go Campy then I will just use their brakes. But I’m not sure if I love the looks of the Dura Ace brakes. What are some other after market brakes I should look at and please explain their benefits over the stock Dura Ace and/or Campy brakes. Do after market brakes perform significantly better than the stock brakes? Why upgrade?
KCNC Brakes should fit the bill nicely:
get great reviews. I’ve been using ZeroGs for quite some time and I’m perfectly happy.
No, more often than not the aftermarket brakes dont have the modulation and smooth feel of the OE Shimano and Campy (SRAM) brakes. Bicycle brakes should not lock the wheel like a vice, they should be smooth and consistant in their feel - cant say that 0G brakes are that smooth (they are better with salmon pads however)
I have the Mavic SSC brakes and they are pretty spiffy. And the stop nice
How would I compare stopping power betweem an after market brake and a stock brake? I’m currently a big guy so a featherlight brake is nice but not at the expense of solid, predictable braking. This is probably mpore important during my hilly training rides than it will be during most of my races but something to consider.
Im about 175-185 race weight and the Mavic SSC stop me about as well as any other ive used; Force, Ultegra, Dura-Ace
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I run ZeroGs with salmon pads (love them - from cyclocross (on Tektro brakes) to dry to winter) and they stop awesome. Probably ultimately “stronger” than Dura Ace brakes (and definitely stronger than my old Campy Record brakes), but they definitely have a more on/off feeling until you get used to them and are MUCH more finicky to set up just right (cable length, etc.)
If you want modulation and are a big guy, you can’t go wrong with Dura Ace 7800 brakes. Very easy to set up, plenty strong and with great modulation.
Also check out the TRP stuff. They have a really nice looking carbon brake.
I have a Campy Delta on the front because it’s beautiful and pretty rare and a Dura Ace on the rear because it works. In all seriousness the Deltas are pigs but the modulation is awesome.
I hear KCNC’s are very very good and many put them ahead of the other lightweights like zero g - they also come in different colors if that matters
Other cool exotic stuff to consider - dura ace ax center pull front (like the delta it’s apparently rubbish at stopping but is cool), the new carbon zero gs, hooker elite front (very rare)
If you’ve got some serious coin, check out some of these for a mere $550: http://www.eecycleworks.com/eebrake.html
If you’ve got some REALLY serious coing, check out some of these for $1,200: http://www.zerogravitybike.com/ (if it doesn’t automatically take you there, click on the little winged skull thing in the upper right.
That is actually a good looking brake and not that expensive. Do you know of any independent reviews that talk about performance compared to other brakes?
LOL! Those are pretty much polar opposite ends of the spectrum as far as brake aeshetics go!
I LOVE those Gravitas brakes … wonder if my wife would notice them on my bike. I can just hear the “O Fortuna” music in my mind like on the website as I’m bombing down hills 
Or, maybe I would be hearing that music as she is stalking me when she found out the price 
I have ZG brakes on my HED Ardennes wheels and they seem to work quite nicely
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I’m putting a set of Simkins Time Trial brakes on my new bike. They come in either black or silver. I went with the silver. They weigh in at about 270 grams and are much smaller then a standard caliper. I looked at all the other calipers and went with the Simkins due to the size for TT’ing
That new Zero Gravity brake is pretty sweet but hard to justify the cost.
The eecycleworks brake… I followed the link to a review and the reviewer mentioned that there might be a problem using this brake with the wider HED wheels I just got so this might not be an option even if I wanted to spend that kind of money. They are pretty ugly too and don’t look very aero. Does aero even matter on brakes? It seems like this would have an impact especially the front brake but I am no aero expert.
I know that Charles Manhatan at Pez cycling has used them and likes them. That is about all that I know of in terms of reviews.
Hmmmm… two different guys at HED told me that they have had a lot of problems with the ZG’s fitting their Jet wheels. Are the Ardennes the same width?
I will second TRP.
Check out their white carbon brakes: http://www.trpbrakes.com/r950SL.html
The aeroness of the eebrakes is a big questionmark to me. If you find pictures of them on a fork, they do not protrude beyond the fork at all. Also, the way the cable housing enters the caliper, it’s barely off the center … almost like a center-pull brake. As they say on their website, it’s all in the “aerodynamic shadow” of the frame. (Don’t know if that’s a valid aerodynamic concept or just clever hype, but I really wonder if these wouldn’t actually be relatively aero compared to conventional Shimano brakes, for example.)
In my experience after market brakes look cooler, are lighter and have less power and modulation that stock brakes. Big companies like Shimano and Campy have a much better R&D budget, can afford better engineers and design their brakes to work with their calipers. For example you cant use the 7900 Dura Ace calipers with the 7800 levers as they wont produce adequate power.
Unless you want to have some extra bling on the bike I see no performance benefit, or even a performance loss with the aftermarket brakes.
Kevin