# Planet X Ultra Light CNC Brake Calipers



## draganM (Nov 27, 2001)

never have any luck with "components/wrenching" forum so i'll ask here. Anyone tried these?

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q...calipers-with-swissstop-brake-pads#buyoptions

more specifically with DA-7900 levers? sounds like similar design?



> New Cam-Pivot design increases as the travel rate diminishes, providing braking without compromising caliper arm travel. Thus providing excellent brake modulation throughout the braking process, something standard calipers cannot provide.


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## rx-79g (Sep 14, 2010)

These brakes are supposed to be pretty nice, but they were created before 7900 and the new actuation of Shimano's, so I don't think that these are for that.


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## Fivethumbs (Jul 26, 2005)

*"The new 7220 brake calipers offer a new patented design that will surely offer the demanding cyclist one of the best brake calipers on the market with incredibly low weight."*

Apparently you have to be a demanding cyclist.


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

> "New Cam-Pivot design increases as the travel rate diminishes, providing braking without compromising caliper arm travel."


Increases what? What is "travel rate?" And how does or did one "compromise caliper arm travel?" One can only hope that the brake itself is of higher quality than this carelessly written pseudo-engineering drivel.

As to the actual hardware: CNC'd brake calipers don't make a whole lot of sense to me. While the acronym sounds impressive, I think that _forging_ the calipers is really the better way to make a bicycle brake. My advice: buyer beware.


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## rx-79g (Sep 14, 2010)

CNC usually implies that the material being used is billet, which is hot forged. There's not much difference in forged to shape and CNC'd out of forged billet.


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## srracer (Sep 14, 2008)

Regarding material.. not trying to start a p**sing match, but CNC only implies that it was machined to final shape by a computer and not by hand. 

The material is likely 6061, which may or may not have been forged... but most importantly, there is a big difference between machining something like a brake caliper arm from straight from billet and forging to near final shape prior to final machining. 

For what it's worth, I don't think the forces are high enough for it to matter when it comes to our brake calipers, and the cost of forged bicycle calipers would be obscenely expensive..... but the grain structure alignment would be_ very_ different between forged 'horseshoes' and machined-from-billet 'horseshoes'.

Just fyi.

***
Update: Always one to admit when I'm not right.. it seems that there are several brake calipers available for road bikes that are forged that aren't obscenely expensive. Go figure. ;-)


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## rx-79g (Sep 14, 2010)

FYI, Planet X used to offer a forged version of this brake as well - and it was cheaper than the CNC version.


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## gande_bike (Feb 28, 2006)

I have "Circus Monkey" branded brakes which are either the same brake or a direct knockoff of the ones you listed. I'm running 7800 but I love the brakes. I use Swisstop yellow on my carbon rims. Never a problem.


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## draganM (Nov 27, 2001)

gande_bike said:


> I have "Circus Monkey" branded brakes which are either the same brake or a direct knockoff of the ones you listed. I'm running 7800 but I love the brakes. I use Swisstop yellow on my carbon rims. Never a problem.


 wow I thought you were joking, someone actually made a bike part and lebeled it "Circus monkey".  only $119. delivered










It seems like everyone who's tried em likes them except for the stock pads they come with. Someone even responded in the wrenching forum, though granted the Tektro's he started with not much of a comparison..



fazzman said:


> I just installed a pair on my rival caad9 with some gore sealed cables and the swissstop pads. Fantastic braking. The biggest thing a noticed is how much stiffer these are compaired to the tektros there were on the bike before. The lever is nice and solid now with better modulation. The tektros felt squishy and soft. The spring in the planet x calipers is also much stiffer, gives nice feedback in the lever. Im sure the calipers would work fine with shimano. Well worth the money. They tipped the scale at 199g for the set.


 I wonder how they would compare to Ultegra Calipers i have now? I would just buy the DA-7900 calipers if they weren't $250.+


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## gande_bike (Feb 28, 2006)

I switched them in for SRAM Rivals. No discernible difference in braking. I agree with the complaints about the stock pads - I put them on one of my other bike's and they are pretty suckish. I got the orange ones purely on the basis that I liked the color on my otherwise black and white bike. I don't much care about weight - especially on something like brakes. For what's worth, I get asked about them all the time.


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## aranesp (Jan 6, 2009)

does anyone know if the planet x has any markings on them? the picture on their website does not show all the angles.

anywhere else i can get these in black other than planet x?


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## fazzman (Mar 12, 2008)

Installed my planet x calipers a couple months ago and they work great. I went with the swissstop pads also. Nice firm lever and nice modulation. Much better then the tektros that came on the bike. Also weighed in at 199g, better then the listed weight. No branding on my set.


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## Bacana (Aug 13, 2010)

Were they hard to set up? I saw a forum (bikeradar?) in which a good number of people were saying that they were "fidgety" to get working or to adjust.


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## bikecrazy2 (Dec 27, 2010)

*Great calipers*

i have used shimano brakes. mostly dura/ace. i purchased the cnc planet x brakes for my wilier le roi. even though they are single pivot with no lever release, i found them very easy to install and extremely affective when braking. they are also very light weight. i would highly recommend this brakes. they came with swisstop dark green pads. wear rate is as good or better than dura ace.


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## Mark Kelly (Oct 27, 2009)

bikecrazy2 said:


> even though they are single pivot with no lever release, i (sic) found them very easy to install and extremely affective (sic) when braking.


They are not really single pivot brakes - the side cam / pivot is effectively a second pivot with a variable actuation ratio, that's what they mean when they say: 

<i>"New Cam-Pivot design increases as the travel rate diminishes, providing braking without compromising caliper arm travel." </i>



wim said:


> Increases what? What is "travel rate?" And how does or did one "compromise caliper arm travel?" One can only hope that the brake itself is of higher quality than this carelessly written pseudo-engineering drivel.


They meant to say that mechanical advantage increases / pad movement per unit cable pull decreases as the caliper action progresses, thus allowing higher pad movement or travel rate at the beginning and higher mechanical advantage at the end. Camapgnolo Deltas used the same principle but with a different mechanism. 

Normal single ratio brakes are a compromise between arm travel for rim clearance and mechanical advantage to give higher braking force for a given lever squeeze. Single pivots have better clearance, dual pivots have better power.


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## Special Eyes (Feb 2, 2011)

rx-79g said:


> CNC usually implies that the material being used is billet, which is hot forged. There's not much difference in forged to shape and CNC'd out of forged billet.


Sorry, not true. Most CNC machined parts are made from either extruded bar or rolled plate, and sometimes castings or forgings. I use tons and tons of aluminum annually in my CNC shop (9 machines) and rarely if ever see material that is forged.

'Billett' is a vague term that refers to a solid piece of raw material from which a part is created usually by machining away the material that is not the part, as opposed to casting or molding which creates the general or final shape of the part from molten metal. And there are many variations to the processes I'm mentioning here.


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## MaLóL (Aug 25, 2011)

any updates? are these still the best light and cheap brakes?


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## redondoaveb (Jan 16, 2011)

Don't know that they are the lightest or cheapest but I have used them on two of my bikes and they are light, cheap, easy to set up and work great.


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## MMinSC (Nov 19, 2011)

Anything works with 7900 levers. I'm running Mavic SSC brakes, and they work perfectly with 7900 levers. Marketing has fooled folks into thinking that they'll fly off the mountain and die if 7900 brakes aren't used w/7900 levers. 

Yeah, I know the whole actuation and cable pull argument...blah...blah...blah...

Brakes other than 7900 work fine...


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## castofone (Dec 24, 2010)

You say you "know the whole actuation and cable pull argument" but you also say "I'm running Mavic SSC brakes, and they work perfectly with 7900 levers." There is an inherent contradiction in that.

Fact is 7900 levers use use less leverage and more cable movement than good old industry standard 3:1. If you use them with calipers other than 7900 you will develop less pad pressure for a given hand pressure than the designer intended. That's pretty much the opposite of what the developers of high end brakes try to achieve. So "perfectly" is not correct. Maybe "adequately" is closer to the truth.


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## andyjc (May 18, 2011)

I have planet x cnc brakes on both road and TT bikes. Awesome brakes! The setup can be fiddly and people complain about the cable fixing method, but it's no different than older mtn bike cantilevers and those always held up fine under more stress...


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