This has taken me a surprisingly long time to get round to writing. There are several reasons for this: 1) I am a master procrastinator*, 2) I accidentally deleted half the pictures I took while testing, and 3) I have spent a lot of time on planes, in hotels and at competitions. Incidentally I have also gotten a LOT of practice at Hive and Monopoly Deal in the last couple of months...
The upside to this is that I have had time to acquire a second set of stabilizers and really get to grips with them on both my bows, shooting indoors and out. So I now feel better qualified to write the review having fully battle tested them.
Before we start, for full disclosure: I have been given both sets of stabilizers free of charge by Vittorio Frangilli of GILLO Gold Medal. However writing a review was not a part of the deal, it's something I have wanted to do myself for a while. I feel that there is a real void of detailed information on archery products online, and stabilization especially is a tricky area for the novice. After all, there are no moving parts, subjective feel is extremely important and they all look like just another set of sticks in the pictures!
So with the scene set lets get down to the details.
The Set Up
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Fresh from the packaging[/caption]
I opted for my standard flat set up with 30" rod, 12" sides, 6" extender and 90 degree V-bar. My comparison set is my old stabilization I used from 2014-2016, HMC22s in the same lengths and angles. These were what I used to rank 2nd in GB in 2016 and place 4th in Nimes 2017 so they have some proven performances to their credit.
In terms of options the GS6s are available in a fairly normal range of sizes: Long rod: 26/28/30/32", Side rods: 10/12", Extender 5/6" carbon or 2" one piece metal. The V-bar is available only in 90 degree flat, though they also make a fully adjustable all gold version.
First Impressions:
Appearance
Understated these are not; with a golden yellow weave pattern in the carbon, bright orange anodised bushings and 24kt gold plated weights, these rods stand out from the crowd visually. While I admit it took a while for my eyes to adjust they have grown on me massively and I love the "blingy" look. They also happen to fit in really nicely with the Shibuya gold colour, should you want to go all out...
Size
At 17mm diameter they are substantially thinner than my old 22s, and one of the thinnest rods available on the market. This is in theory better for crosswinds as they present less surface area. The V-bar likewise is smaller and more compact, measuring about 12mm across at the join.
Weight
As well as being skinny, they are substantially lighter than the old set, saving around 25 g or one weight per rod. Lightweight stabilizers are useful because it means relatively more weight can be loaded onto the ends of the rods, where it has a greater moment to prevent movement of the riser.
I've included a detailed table of weights (in grams) below:
| GS6 | HMC22 | |
| 6" Extender | 68 | 95 |
| 12" Side Rod | 89 | 117 |
| 30" Long Rod | 161 | 178 |
| 90 degree V-bar & Bolt | 82 | 86 |
Design and construction:
The weights are cleverly designed so that the cap and mid weights are identical, the former just having a garish neon yellow plastic cap glued over the end (different colour caps are available to purchase). The weights are 25g each. Also the 1/4" screw is a separate part and has an allen key socket head, meaning that when pairs of weights inevitably fuse together (a universal problem for non-disc weights) they can always be detached again, a really useful feature!
Likewise the threads in each rod are removable. This can be a bit of an issue; on one set the threads kept coming unscrewed when I disassembled the bow, though this was easily solved with a little threadlock. One feature I appreciate is that the holes in each stabiliser bushing and the V-bar bolt are set clear of the threads when assembled, meaning you can always put an allen key all the way through to tighten them if needed, something I couldn't do before.
Balance:
Time for some context. I shoot a 70", 45# target recurve, with a set up that I would describe as "a bit front-heavy but nothing ridiculous". About 600g of stabilizer weights means the bow weighs in at around 3kg overall (thats 21 oz on the rods or 6.6 lbs total in old money; I try to avoid imperial units where possible**).
The flat set up is mostly because that's what all my previous set ups used. I originally got _those _thanks largely to this explanation of forces through the bowhand and stabiliser mechanics. Roughly speaking, the logic is that you select a long rod close in length to your draw length, and then choose a ext/side combination that puts the side rod weights roughly in line with the grip, to get maximum stabilisation for the weight used. The same article also explains why a higher poundage bow actually helps "lift" the mass weight of the bow, and hence usually people with higher poundage can shoot with more stabilizer weights.
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The draw force of the bow (Green Arrow) is above the horizontal (black line), meaning that it partly counterbalances the weight of the bow (white arrow). Photo by David Richardson[/caption]
Getting the right balance of weight is extremely important for any set up, as is finding the right place within the weight stack for the dampers. Even removing just a couple of weights from the side rods makes the bow feel much harsher to shoot and delivers a lot of shock down my arm. Likewise for a given balance of weights on the rest of the bow, adding a couple too many extra weights to the long rod completely messes up the bow reaction post shot. In my case, I found 8 weights out front was getting quite close to the limits of practicality (they just start sticking out a long way) so to boost up the total bow mass I also use a 200g damper and weight screwed into the bottom riser bushing.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmUD_i4jTKo&w=560&h=315]
If you wanted to use more weight on the rods then for practicality you would need to either use some 1/4" thread disc weights, or 5/16" with a thread adapter. I've gone for the latter on one of my set ups, using a GILLO female-female thread adapter. I could just use a conversion screw but I like having the disc weights on a bit of a lever in front of the damper as otherwise its not as effective. For those going for disc weights, brass works really well with these both in looks and practicality!
Stiffness
Why do we care about stiffness? In theory, any flexibility in the rod allows for some movement of the bow before the weights move, reducing stability during the shot. This leads to the common philosophy for buying stabilisers that you want the stiffest rod possible. This isn't always true... for any given design of rod I can always make it stiffer, but at the cost of increasing size, weight or both. With a heavier rod I'm then forced to take some weight off the ends to maintain balance, which then reduces the moment of inertia about the bow and reduces stability! So really what we want is a rod that is "stiff enough" for the weight required, and then as light as possible after that.
The GS6 rods are easily able to handle the amount of weight I've thrown on them. For a recurve shooter this should be plenty of weight unless your going for a seriously mass heavy set up. I could just say they work for me fine but that would be cutting corners, so to check how the GILLOs would perform in this scenario I ditched the extender, got out a drop angle v-bar and went to town with the weights, putting about 10-12 oz on each rod. While that set up is not to my tastes it did work perfectly fine, shooting good groups at 70m with a reasonable bow reaction.
Price
The final point to consider in any review has to be price, and here the GILLO rods are actually one of the most affordable quality options available, coming in slightly cheaper than the well established HMC+ rods that I have been recommending to new archers until now. The full set can be bought for about £200 plus weights. Admittedly the gold plated weights are a bit more expensive but it is possible (if less fabulous) to use any standard 1/4" weight.
Wrapping Up
In conclusion I've found the GILLO stabilisers perform excellently. They're at a size and weight I like, can handle the load I put on them with no trouble, give a lovely feeling to the bow reaction and most important of all they allow me to group well. I definitely wouldn't still be using them otherwise!
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In action on the world cup circuit. Photo by World Archery[/caption]
If you're a buying your first bow or upgrading from a starter long rod then these will certainly be a good investment and work well for you for a long long time. If your experienced and in the market to try some new stabilisation then I recommend giving them a try.
Feel free to ask any more questions about these in the comments and I'll do my best to answer!
*This is definitely the best explanation of procrastination I've ever seen, and possibly my favorite series of blog posts ever. Tim Urban I can only admire your excellence in writing and stick drawing, and in putting off doing those things as much as possible.
**Hey, I'm a scientist. What did you expect?