I recently picked a pair of refurbed Gravitas SL for $400 from Ciamillo. I put off posting my first impressions until I tried the brakes with comparable pads to what I was running before. With that being said, the Gravitas with Zipp Tangente cork pads on Reynolds DV46 can be summed up as a crap in the pants experience. With Swiss Stop Black Prince pads, braking performance is quite good.

Most recent setup: Planet X Brakes, Swiss Stop Yellow and Reynolds DV46 tubular

Other experiences: Campag Athena with Campy Aluminum Wheels

Performance
Overall, with the Black Prince pads, I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference in performance between the Planet X setup and this. Modulation is good and power has never left me feeling concerned about being able to stop. In other words, they are powerful enough for emergency stops during Cat 4 and 5 crits and tightly formed packs in road races.

Setup
The brakes came with zero instructions and completely disassembled with several shims. It took me awhile to figure out that they were shims and their purpose (the pad holders are very low profile so additional shims are necessary).

The rear brake backing was larger than my brake bridge, so I had to recycle a washer from the planet x brakes.

Last complaint is that I had to really crank down on the tensioner to prevent the cable from slipping. I feel that I exceeded whatever recommended torque specs that would have been stated had instructions been available. This could be the Alligator cables. They do seem to not want to stay put.

On the plus side, centering these with the Alligator cables is very easy. Not sure how they would fare with super stiff housing like my old Yokozunas.

Other Thoughts
The brakes look gorgeous, much better than the pictures. Weight with minimal amount of shims and pad holders was 139 grams. Complete set with 18g of Zipp cork pads was 159g. Weight with Swiss Stop Black Prince Pads (highly recommended) is 174g.

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Litespeed Siena: 13.56 lbs

Got a pair of Gravitas also. Took a few adjustments for the brakes to stay centered, but after that they stayed put.

Only gripe I have about them is that I'm running them with 404's and I can't set them as loose as I normally like them.

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Are your 404's the current Firecrest verson?

I have 303 Firecrest and am considering Gravitas brakes.

Just trying to work out if they'll work ok with my 303's and 7900 shifters.

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2012 Scott Foil Premium

They are Firecrest.

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Not sure if gravitas and GSL pad clearance will be the same but my GSLs with super low pad holders and Reynolds blue have plenty of clearance for a 27mm bontrager d3 rim.

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so do the stock standard Gravitas work with DA 7900 shifters or do you need a specific cam?

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2012 Scott Foil Premium

My rear brake caliper is now creaking when I pull the lever and making a clicking noise while braking (actually moving). Any ideas as to why? Should I grease the spring?

The clicking may have to do with the wheel pulsing (not sure if the wheel actually is pulsing, but my front was for a little while)

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Litespeed Siena: 13.56 lbs

If your rims are Al, it could be where the join is when they make the hoops.
If its a carbon brake surface it could be some brake pad burnt onto the rim. Good clean with brake cleaner will fix it.

Sounds like your Gravitas could do with some lube


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2012 Scott Foil Premium

They're carbon. It's a recent development that sounds like something clacking against a metal frame.

I need to finish gluing up my rear DV46 so I can swap and see if it persists.

As far as lubing, lube the area where the spring inserts into the arm? Anywhere else? Should Triflow do the trick?

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Litespeed Siena: 13.56 lbs

I'm not sure. Maybe contact Ciamillio and ask.
I haven't received my Gravitas yet so I can't talk from experience but I used to take my zero gravity completely apart and clean and lube them with waterproof grease and it always freed and quiet them up.

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2012 Scott Foil Premium

The key to making the brakes work correctly is getting the torque correct on them. Too little, you'll get a shuttering as it loosens or starts to shutter loose during braking. Give Ted a call and he'll walk you thru the correct amount of Torque or drop the guys at irish cycles a line www.irishcycles.com as they spec their bikes with them.

A few quick squirts of triflow to the spring and its contact point with the aluminum insert resolved the noise problems.

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Litespeed Siena: 13.56 lbs