absoluteBLACK has introduced its new-generation RAVEN SL and RAVEN GT full-floating disc rotors, following more than a decade of development into how rotor perforation patterns affect braking performance.
The brand says the new rotors are designed around a key principle: ensuring the brake pad sees as even a distribution of steel as possible across the rotor’s friction track, helping reduce localised overheating and uneven wear.
The RAVEN SL is aimed at riders prioritising low weight, while the RAVEN GT uses more than 500 smaller perforations and additional material for greater thermal capacity under sustained braking.
absoluteBLACK first entered the Center Lock rotor market in 2012, when disc brakes were still uncommon on road bikes. The company says ongoing development, alongside testing of its GRAPHENpads, highlighted how uneven distribution of material across a rotor’s braking surface can contribute to heat build-up, glazing and concentric wear grooves.
Rather than treating the hole pattern as a visual design, absoluteBLACK says it analysed the friction track as hundreds of circular paths. By calculating how much steel is available to the pad on each path, the company aimed to create a flatter, more consistent material distribution across the main working area of the rotor.
The result is a rotor pattern that is deliberately uneven in appearance but, according to the company, more even in braking and thermal behaviour. absoluteBLACK developed dedicated software to analyse manually designed patterns and refine the position, size and shape of each perforation.
Both RAVEN SL and RAVEN GT use a two-piece full-floating construction, allowing the stainless-steel friction ring to expand relative to the carrier as temperatures rise, with the goal of limiting distortion during repeated heating and cooling cycles.
Independent testing was carried out by German bicycle testing laboratory EFBE Prüftechnik GmbH. In heat-resistance testing, the absoluteBLACK combination dissipated 92.7 Wh of braking energy, compared with 92.9 Wh for a Shimano Dura-Ace reference combination tested under the same procedure.
Brake torque was also measured after bedding-in. RAVEN with GRAPHENpads generated 241 Nm at 140 N lever force, rising to 274 Nm at 160 N. The Dura-Ace reference combination generated 211 Nm at 140 N, with further lever travel limited by contact with the handlebar.
RAVEN SL uses fewer, larger perforations to reduce weight while maintaining a controlled braking surface distribution. RAVEN GT uses smaller perforations and more material for riders seeking greater control under heavier or prolonged braking demands.
The 6-bolt RAVEN SL 160mm weighs a claimed 85g, while the RAVEN GT 160mm weighs 99g. Center Lock options include the RAVEN SL CTRL 140mm at 81g, RAVEN SL CTRL 160mm at 94g, and RAVEN GT CTRL 160mm at 108g.
The new RAVEN SL and RAVEN GT rotors are available now directly from absoluteBLACK and through selected dealers.
