Derby and Planet X CNC Ultralight Brakes Mini Review

I finally got the last bit of my build in the other day. I decided on getting a new set of brakes through Planet X called CNC Ultralight Brakes. Mine weighed in at 198 grams which is 7 less than claimed. These are basically a knock off of the Feather brakes which most people rant and rave about, but for almost a 1/3 of the price. I have never tried feather brakes but if you look at the similarities I am not sure there is any difference at all in the two. If you look at the pictures from the review above and these, they are basically the same.

I am a big fan of CNC stuff and these just felt strong when I picked them out of the box. Whereas my KCNC felt, well not nearly as strong. They are actually a dual pivot design (patented in some way) which gives them great stopping power even though they look like single pivot.

I have tried just about every brake out there from the major brands and I think I have to say in terms of braking power and weight these are my new favorites. Little details like no ferrule needed, as shown in the last pic, is a nice touch as well as the green swissstop pads that are stock and my favorite for this time of year. They certainly help give the brakes good feel as well.

They actually feel a lot like Campagnolo brakes if I had to choose. D/A brakes have too much stopping power as I have said before. SRAM take a little while to get used to, but aren't as overkill as D/A. I want to be able to "feel" my way through braking, and these brakes do just that. I do not kill myself going over the bars, but could lock up the front wheel if I wanted. But I run my brakes generally looser than most so that I can can pull the levers slightly without compressing them in tough braking situations.

That being said, they don't make me concerned in any way even though they are lightweight. The set up took a moment to install. Kind of like cantilever brakes in that you have to "thread" the cable through the hole and then attach the bolt underneath the red arm (in 2nd, 3rd pic above). And after that, I was just pleased. They can stop on the dime, but still make you feel like you are in control as opposed to the brakes being in control.

Another plus is they match the Thomson gear well since they are CNC.

The brakes also were dirty when I took the pictures and that made me think of the derby. I haven't done it for 8-9 months so I really wanted to just get out and see how it would go. Winter training is upon us for the most part (or almost upon us for me) and I wanted either a confidence boost (or a confidence boost). So I was hoping it would only be one or the other. I rode out and met 8+2 and then the entire LoF Team. Apparently someone thought that the bridge was completed or completed enough to go over. It was a mess. I am not sure why everyone agreed to do this since there are so many locals that knew the bridge wasn't completed in any way.

Comical in most ways with 50 some people all trying to make their way over ruts of cold dirt/mud and dust, and to be honest I am surprised no one ran into anyone. To me it was annoying but not impossible, but to others it might as well as been a public display of dishonoring them. Aside from the cursing and "you jerks", etc a different person decided to attack and nearly chop everyone's wheel they could on the way out. Just to show everyone else what a jerk we are. It's those moments I don't miss the derby. So to show him what a jerk he was.
Everyone chased him down.

It started light hearted and then all of a sudden we were doing 30+ on the relaxed part of the ride that is suppose to be double paceline, talking. This became single paceline, pull taking. Finally we made the catch and people relaxed slightly. Onto the turn around, it wasn't going to be friendly. Mild for a few seconds and then the attacks went. A group pulled away slightly going over Bowers (I think) and it was strung out and brutal. I remember thinking, this better be Topton either I am screwed. And it wasn't. But the pace "mellowed" on Topton and we started rotating and looked like we were going to catch and then got a red light to their green light. Eventually the catch was made. I started setting up for the sprint but going into the rollers I had a rude awakening on being on mile 40ish and my legs were laughing at me (cramping) as they reminded I haven't ridden that many miles in nearly 3-4 months. I managed to stick near the front and did a half sprint to finish in the top 5-10 as my legs cramped, I watched Smargi taking the win from Simes.

Confidence boost. Check. Ready for winter training? Sure. Now, I guess I should keep my bike the way it is until at least this time next year?