always wanted to do a kintsugi something and this was cooler than I had envisioned

These levers are mechanically straightforward and do what they are supposed to do. They take a few minutes to set up, stop my bike well, and are almost impossible to break.

It works very well, and I like that you can mount it in different positions.

The rack is beautiful and is a great match for my vintage inspired build. I love that the lower pannier mounting doesn't interfere with the having a saddle bag.

Works beautifully, and fit on my frame, where no other kickstand would work.

I was dealing with some reliability issues with the hydraulic brakes leaking on my bike so I replaced them with these. They grab just as good, with the same delicate one finger squeeze. Been a long time since I have had mechanical brakes, I didn’t know they could be this good!

This hat makes me look so much cooler than I am… I have the smallest head on my shoulders and finally found a hat that doesn’t make me look like a complete goober. Excited to wear it for a very long time.

This is not a long term review by any means. I received these brake calipers the other day, installed them, and have been on one single ride in dry conditions for twenty miles, however, that ride was very spirited and included some fairly congested areas and one particularly steep downhill.

I will state that I immediately swapped out the brake pads for Swissstop Flashpro BXP pads, because that is just what I almost always use and am used to, so, I do not have experience with the VO pads (with that being said, the VO pads are more or less the same navy blue color as the Swissstop pads and feel fairly similar, so, I'm curious to compare them some day.)

Anyway, the installation of both the pads and the calipers themselves onto my 1985 Bianchi steel frameset was uneventful. The brakes were quick and easy to set up... no complaints. I build and work on a lot of bikes and these just went on easily and were set up, over and done with, quickly and painlessly.

As mentioned, I have taken these brakes on one single ride so far in dry conditions, but, my braking experience on that ride was... very good to say the least. I was more or less instantly confident with the brakes and they just felt... like they were working. I didn't have to think about them and they did what I wanted them to do. They were easy to forget about because they just worked very well. I should state that I am using alloy rims. Obviously this is an 'initial impression' sort of review, but my initial impression is very good. Prior to these calipers, the 1985 Bianchi had Modolo America calipers from the same era (1980s) and these VO brakes smoke those in performance for lack of a better term... but the VO brakes are offered in a 47-57mm reach which allows for older frames to enjoy the benefits of modern dual pivot rim brake tech. They really are decently close to hydro discs in terms of performance. As long as these calipers continue to work reliably, I would have no reason to ever change them out.

Love how these feel. Very sturdy and good quality.

The brake levers exceed my expectations and the quality is exceptional

Very polished & highest of quality

Patina. I ended up getting both gold and silver. My Specialized AWOL Elite has many scratches and gouges. Rather than stripping the bike and repainting it, only to drop it or crash it again in the future I used silver Goldfinger Metallic Paste to fill in the scratches. It looks nice against the pearlescent white of the bikes original paint.

This is the second set of these I have installed. These fenders are always a bit fiddley to install, but once you get them all sorted out they are solid. 2' tires are definitely the upper limit. I also was at the limit with a 2 " tire and a set of Paul Motolites ,the cable/noodle rubs the fender ,but functions.. My one suggestion to improve the hardware would be to include a bolt and nut capable of going thru the crown of the fork.

I finally got to take it on its first test run yesterday on a nice 20 mile ride. Much more comfortable posture for me. Definitely getting it dialed in to be a perfect fit and this stem helped achieve that.

Goldfinger Metallic Compound