Purchased a set of the Ciamillo CX Brakes to use on my Moots. I love the Avid Ultimate V-Brakes I have been using but I would lose nearly half a pound of weight switching to the Ciamillo's or really any decent canti. Plus the V-brakes were a tad bit overkill when racing.

So first things first, they look beautiful and are nice and light. 216 grams for the whole setup (front and rear). I machined a front cable hangar that weighs a scant 16 grams and looks much nicer than the cheap ugly stuff from tektro. All in all, the bike lost 7 ounces with the brakes installed.

Now the bad part. Setup on these brakes is not fun. In fact its downright terrible. Because the brakes use a 4mm bolt to attach the pad holders, you have to use the pad holders that come with the brakes (standard is a 5mm bolt). This doesnt work for me because the braking area on the rim was too high and there was no way to move the pads any higher. Thankfully I had some spacers from the avids that I could use to space the pads out farther from the brake and this sort of solved the issue (Pad alignment isnt great with new pads). Next issue was the little washers used with the bolts to hold the pad holders to the brake body. Either they were too large or the brakes not machined correctly because they would not lie flat. The pads kept moving down and I didnt realize it was being caused by the too large washers (The washer was lying on an edge and would not lay flat). Also, because the washer was at an angle, the screw was at an angle, and it actually chewed up the slot the pad holders moved in. I ended up not using the washers and that is not really a good thing, since there is a much smaller area that the screw head presses against. It could cause the brakes to be damaged if there is too much force applied to the pad.

Tomorrow I will test out the brakes, I couldnt this weekend due to injury and then sickness.

FYI. Brakes are only installed on the front for right now. The setup is an Easton EC90x fork and a set of Mavic Kysrium rims.

FYIA. I made some extra of the front cable hangers. 15 bucks a piece plus shipping. Here's a pic. If you use a carbon spacer a bolt is not necessary because the spacer holds the hangar tight once the headset and stem is tightened down. There will be another version that I will be even lighter. Sorry about the poor pics. The finish is glass beaded aluminum. Kinda matte looking.

Really nice looking hanger. Any chance you could make one with some drop to allow for more space to run the cable?

I like that idea plus include a barrel adjustor, that would be sweet. But I'll buy one of first ones. I'll PM you.

I can and I will make some with drop. Those are going to be more expensive however because the part is made from a billet of aluminum and requires much much more time to machine. The drop hangar would be about 30 dollars. The double of cost is because it takes much more labor. How many people would be interested in a drop hangar? If there is enough demand, I can bring the cost down. Also, second version without a bolt forthcoming tomorrow. Will post some pics when done.

I'm interested too for drop hanger.
could you post some pictures?

I'll take a couple of the drop hangers.

yeah, if you can drop the price a bit from 30 on the drop hanger I'd buy a couple especially if they're set up for a barrel adjuster.

I'll take one!

& I'll paint it black if you don't mind

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Technical Artisans

Lol I dont mind if you paint it black at all. 1 inch is what I have designed. I have material for that. Im going to make a tester with drop next week so I will post a pic next week. One more thing. A bolt to tighten or boltless. Here's an example of boltless. Its what I use. Once i tighten down the headset bolt it stays, thx to the carbon spacer compressing and locking the hangar down. L

I would be fine with a bolt less, a bit lighter as well I suspect.

how tall is the hangar? 1 1/8" available in the future?

So........how do the brakes work?

Ok, so first race is going to be on Saturday with the new brakes. Impressions so far commuting and training in the dirt.... I was damned spoiled with the v-brakes. There is really just no comparison. Now saying that, I have been switching back and forth between a Paul Neo-Retro up front and the Ciamillo up front. Both seem to work very well for canti's. Chatter was not an issue with either, as I was able to toe in the pads on both. I think with a better Kool-Stop pad the Ciamillo's would work better. They have the green in there which is ok, but the dual compound works so much better. Although the green looks nice . The Paul's already have the dual compound, and the Ciamillo's work just as well and maybe a hair better. Neither will lock up and throw me over like the Ultimates could.

So biggest bitch, pad setup and proprietary 4mm bolt for pad holder. Solution for 1st problem, get some of the dished spaces that come with v-brake pads and it will solve that problem and make setup easier. Otherwise pad setup may prove impossible. Solution for 2nd problem, bitch to creator and cry and whine until he changes it at great cost and time.

Side note. I was going to try the KCNC v brakes because they were listed at 58grams. That 58 grams is for one caliper without canti boss, brake pad, or pad holder. Actual weight is closer to 200 grams a pair.

Also, update on the drop holder. It is going to be a 3 piece holder. I was really unhappy with one piece holder and thats all there is to it. It was not stiff enough or light enough, and required way way way too much time to machine properly.

The 3 piece holder will be top section for mounting to the bike. Middle section with different drop lengths available. Bottom section threaded/not for adjustable cable doo-dad. Sorry, tired and can't remember right name.

Next week is the new ETA for those. Sound good to everybody?

That sounds like a cool design. I look forward to seeing it in practice.
Good luck in your race, where is it?