One of the more fascinating stories in the recent history of the high-end road bike industry has been the ascension of Zero Gravity Titanium brake calipers. No other manufacturer -- be it a stalwart like Campy or Shimano, or a small upstart like Paul -- ever so tantalized people about a component that, in comparison to wheels or cranksets, seems fairly humdrum. Maybe humdrum isn't the right word: Closer to the truth is the fact that when you talk about brakes you're talking about putting your life in your hands. ZG was the first company to self-consciously treat brakes like we treat almost every other component on the bike: Worthy of machining and manipulating down to the lowest conceivable weight. They, more than anyone else, proved that the marketplace didn't associate the use of featherlight brakes with risk-taking behavior. Provided they looked fantastic (and ZG brakes do) and they have quality modulation and stopping power (and ZG brakes do), the marketplace would warmly embrace it, no matter the cost.

When we first saw Campagnolo's Record Skeleton brake calipers, we admit that our first thought was of ZG. The aggressive machining and the wicked black finish of the Skeleton calipers were visually resonant of ZG. And since they're Record we knew the braking quality would be awesome. And while they're still roughly 100g per set heavier than ZG Ti calipers, their design was proof that Campy was following in the footsteps of ZG by acknowledging that brakes should look light as well as be light.

Nevertheless, Campagnolo states that lightness wasn't their primary motivator in the super-machined look of the caliper arms. Their goal was to maintain the caliper strength and in fact increase stiffness in the areas of the calipers where the greatest stresses occur in the braking process. Where unneeded bulk was present in the pre-Skeleton Record design, material was eliminated. And, really, we need to be careful about stating that anything on the caliper arms is machined. In fact, Campagnolo forges the calipers instead of CNC'ing them. It's not much of a secret anymore that forging preserves the structure of an alloy to a greater extent than CNC'ed alloy. When you're talking about feathery components, the difference between forging and CNC'ing the material can be the difference between longevity and fragility in the component as a whole.

The Skeleton brakes continue in Campagnolo's tradition of a "differentiated" design: The front brake has two pivots, but the rear only has one. Given that your front brake provides the bulk of your braking power, it made sense to Campagnolo to lighten up the rear brake with the elimination of a superfluous pivot. You'll notice no lessening of your braking power. You get a generous range of 50mm of pad height adjustment and orbital pad adjustment to allow you to fine tune these brakes like none other. Alloy and titanium small parts help maximize their lightness at 279g.