Generally a first generation of a Gillo product will have “Lux” in the name. This means that it has titanium nitrate coated bushings, wood grips, and other premium fittings. It used to also mean a glossy finish, but now basically all of their products are sandblasted and various degrees of matte.

When the product has been out for a couple years, Gillo often releases an “M” version which is often significantly cheaper. The GT M and GQ M are good examples of this. From a functional standpoint, there are basically no differences. The only noticeable change is that these have a plastic, often 3D printed grip rather than the wood one.

Gillo bows aren’t really designed for barebow specifically, but Gillo was one of the early companies that included barebow specific accessories and attachment points with their recurve risers. This, combined with some happy accidents like the asymmetry on the 27” risers (or, honestly, just the existence of their 27” risers when most other companies didn’t offer them), made them very popular with barebow shooters when barebow began its modern resurgence in popularity around 2014-2016 (which coincided with Gillo’s founding, so they were the hot new thing too).

It’s worth noting that barebow has maintained popularity in Italy due to the popularity of field archery, so they aren’t seen as a niche market by Italian companies (Gillo, Spigarelli, SmartRiser) like it was/is for Hoyt or W&W. What Gillo did differently was to design a riser that didn’t need a separate barebow version to appeal to those archers.

I suspect that when Gillo saw that their barebow sales outstripped their recurve sales, they became a frequent and strong supporter of the barebow class at major events.

The GQ was designed more with recurve archers in mind compared to the G1. Between the current generation GT and GF, I think the GF has some more barebow specific nods like the tunnels for attaching weights, but it also feels great with a stabilizer setup.

Michele obviously does very well with it. Maximiliano did well at Lancaster and Vegas with one last year.

The only drawback I can think of is also a potential positive: most of their risers are comparatively heavy. Not overly so, and the GX series is on the lighter side.

 

They're great shooters for olympic style -- I shot a G1 and then a GT for years and they're both great risers. On the GT I noticed that if you screwed the tiller bolts in to the maximum the limbs behaved a little weird -- but you could get the advertised range of draw weight adjustment.

 

I have a couple of G1s and have shot a G2 and a few of the newer ones. No issues at all. I only use them for barebow. What I like most is that they just balance well in my hand.

I can't imagine there being any drawbacks. If you ever get up this way, or I get down your way, you are more than welcome to shoot my 25" and 27"

 

As written above, Gillo has really been embraced by the barebow community. I think like all smaller manufacturers, they have a steeper road to climb in Olympic recurve, which is dominated by Hoyt and Win&Win. Given Michele Frangilli's performance at Lancaster, riser brand is not the determining factor in success. I have no doubt the Gillo risers would perform well.

I think the new Gillo GF risers with their tunnel design adds some interesting options for riser balance and feedback. How much that contributes to a bow with a full stabilizer system, I am unsure. I think it has more of a benefit with barebow. However, the Gillo system allows the side rods to be mounted lower on the riser from the main stabilizer bushing, which would lower the bows center of gravity. The only archer I know that approached that type of setup was Lisa Unruh by mounting her side rods to the lower bushing on her Hoyt.

But, Kelly, we would be more than happy to welcome you into the barebow crowd...

 

This will sound dumb, but I can't shoot bare bow; I need the long rod to rest the bow on while I'm loading. arrows, I'm all left thumbs and right feet trying to load an arrow holding the bow in the air.

I would like to shoot BB once, and extend my center serving up to my eye level just for a judge to try to make the argument of it being in "my line of sight."

 

BTW, if you want to try Gillo, Alternative Services in the UK has B-Grade risers at some good discounts. A B-Grade riser simply has cosmetic defects, although that most people that buy on say they really don't notice anything. You just might have to check from time to time if you want a specific model. The only down side of Alternative Services is returns can be a pain.

 

This is actually where I'm looking, and keeping an eye out for the B-grade offerings.

 

I forgot to add that the GT transmitted the least vibration of any recurve I've ever shot. The effect of the rubber bushings over the tiller bolts was incredible to me and delivered a much more comfortable shot.

 

I think others here have already given almost all answers.
If you want to know a bit more, just spend some time listening to my (poor English language) seminar that I did at Kings of Archery a few weeks ago, available on YouTube at the link below:

 

I think others here have already given almost all answers.
If you want to know a bit more, just spend some time listening to my (poor English language) seminar that I did at Kings of Archery a few weeks ago, available on YouTube at the link below:

This presentation, and your participation in this forum, are part of my reason for wanting to try Gillo.

 

There are options to try...

 

I love my G1, and most barebow shooters in my area shoot the GT. The GT can be problematic if you encounter issues with your limbs. One of the best barebow shooters in my area ran brand new Uukha SX+ limbs and one of them cracked. Uukha refused to warranty the limbs because the GT has too much draw weight adjustment, even though he didn't adjust the poundage much at all.

IMO Gillo grips are the best, and I've tried Jager and RCore grips. Gillo is much better and cheaper too.

Gillo is a family-run company that stands behind their product. I've had no issues with my G1, but I did have issues with Gillo limbs, and they helped out with no hassle.

There are some peculiarities that take getting used to:

ILF limbs do not "click" into place because there is just a groove for the limb detent ball with no notch for the detent.

Limb adjustment screws are very small and "lock"with an even tinier grub screw. It feels fragile and is finicky to adjust. For the limbs to go in and out easily, the screws must be juuuuuust tight enough, and it feels too loose when you do it the first few dozen times.

Tiller bolt outer diameters are too small for a lot of limbs, so the limb can move around. I now run GIllo limbs on my G1 and they fit tightly on the bolts (but could be tighter). WNS and Uukhas were loose and sloppy.

 

I love my G1, and most barebow shooters in my area shoot the GT. The GT can be problematic if you encounter issues with your limbs. One of the best barebow shooters in my area ran brand new Uukha SX+ limbs and one of them cracked. Uukha refused to warranty the limbs because the GT has too much draw weight adjustment, even though he didn't adjust the poundage much at all.

IMO Gillo grips are the best, and I've tried Jager and RCore grips. Gillo is much better and cheaper too.

Gillo is a family-run company that stands behind their product. I've had no issues with my G1, but I did have issues with Gillo limbs, and they helped out with no hassle.

There are some peculiarities that take getting used to:

ILF limbs do not "click" into place because there is just a groove for the limb detent ball with no notch for the detent.

Limb adjustment screws are very small and "lock"with an even tinier grub screw. It feels fragile and is finicky to adjust. For the limbs to go in and out easily, the screws must be juuuuuust tight enough, and it feels too loose when you do it the first few dozen times.

Tiller bolt outer diameters are too small for a lot of limbs, so the limb can move around. I now run GIllo limbs on my G1 and they fit tightly on the bolts (but could be tighter). WNS and Uukhas were loose and sloppy.

This is where I'm waffling on my choices- I like my SX Plus limbs [and I bought them used so I don't think they are still under warranty], but I also have some formula Velos laying around and could go with a formula GT riser.

 

I can't speak for the OR side of things but my Gillo G1 is honestly my go-to for barebow. It's incredibly modular with the various weight systems. The only downside to the Gillo line is the weights can get expensive but then again, what other company allows you to put an axe blade on their risers. My personal experience is that the stock grip is super comfortable and there's plenty of aftermarket grip companies that make Gillo grips. The stock mass distribution of the bow is phenominal. The anodized finish is incredibly durable. I like the deflex of my G1 however the deflex on the GT and GF are different I believe. I don't really find it necessary to have the floating limbs but the GT and GF are compatible with the Gillo Hammers. Hopefully, more people will add their experience with Gillo and OR shooting. I've shot a GIllo GT with all the OR attachments and it's incredibly quiet if you find the sweet spot for the brace height. If you watch Michele Frangille's matches such as the Lancaster, you can get a good feel for what Gillo has to offer in OR Style shooting.

 

This will sound dumb, but I can't shoot bare bow..

It is questionable that I can shoot barebow, but I don't let that stop me...

It was just a bit of humor on my part. And obviously, we don't have any para divisions.

 

This is actually where I'm looking, and keeping an eye out for the B-grade offerings.

Ha! Ha! Ha!

I saw what you did there.

 

"...we don't have any para divisions."
Olympic and barebow can each make an argument for one being the para division of the other.

 

For what it's worth: Uukha's warranty denials overblow an issue. There are some archers that crank in the limb bolts with Uukhas to try and get a specific feel. I'm sure some people took that too far.

Let's take a set of 68" limbs on a 27" riser. I think it's fair to say that most manufacturers expect that combination to be used by someone with a draw length between 26 and 30 inches. Border's chart here says 27-30.5 and Border is notoriously conservative with their draw length recommendations. Adjusting your limb bolts give you +/-5% on a conventional riser. So if we assume an increase of 5% per inch that's 15-20% of draw weight variation from draw length and an additional 10% from adjusting limb bolts.

Pre-loading the limb bolts is functionally no different than drawing the bow a little further or a little less as far as the amot of strain put on the limbs is concerned. So yeah, if you have a 30" draw length you probably can't/shouldn't crank the pockets all of the way in with a set of limbs on the GT, as this will give you a limb weight of 30%, which is more than the limb is designed for/tested at. Similarly, if you have a 27" draw length, the limbs on their minimum setting will likely feel underwhelming as you haven't gotten into the working area of the draw force curve. But a long draw archer can definitely take advantage of the lower settings, and a short draw archer can get some extra poundage out of a set of limbs on the high end. If you have an average draw length, you can comfortably take advantage of most of the 30% adjustment without fear (having your limb bolts set to the maximum +10% with a 28" draw isn't any different from someone with a 30" draw shooting the limbs).

If you're particularly concerned, shoot a bow 2" longer than you normally would. Gillo makes the widest variety of riser lengths of any manufacturer that I'm aware of, and the geometry of most of their 27" risers is fairly forgiving towards average or shorter draw archers using them (I do suspect that the 27" GF won't be, with the additional deflex and actual length of 27.75, but I plan on running medium limbs on it if/when I get one rather than the longs I run on my GT 27).

 

All good points.

FWIW, the particular archer I referred to has about a 28" draw and didn't crank up the weight. There really was something wrong with the limb. If he was shooting a G1 like me, Uukha might have helped out, but since he told them he was using a GT, they refused to warranty them.

 

I don’t have any experience with the new GF but I have a ton of experience with the GT. It’s an absolute dream to shoot. You cannot go wrong with a Gillo, definitely try one.

 

The GF is so much easier to tune than GT IMO.

 

I ran my uukha evo2’s wound way in with very light arrows on my 27” Gt for the ‘22 season. Many many days with 90* temps shooting and had zero issues.

 

Hi @Vittorio what is the difference between the C77 and C88 limbs? Thank you!

 

C88 limbs have already four years of story behind and have been those defining Gillo advanced curve and basic parameters for the "softness" we wanted. Countless number of victories and Gold medals in Bare Bow at all levels, from World Field and 3D to Lancaseste classic, but also very good results in Recurve, reaching 7th place at World Target Championships 2023 in Berlin on our GT riser. Not to forget, they are presently owning the World Indoor 18m Record with 572 points. Structure has 7 layers, 4 carbon, 2 foam and foam center.
C77 have one year of development behind, and are from a different factory than C88. We looked for a bit more of softness than C88, while keeping basically the same profile. They are softer, but by a negligible amount only. But the different technology made them a bit narrow, which translated to a bit faster. Then, my daughter Carla, in her continuous fight against Black and Grey archery products, convinced us that it was time to try some different color schemes for our second generation of top-level limbs, involving C77 and C99 (late 2025 at best). 5 layers only, cross carbon and linear carbon on both faces and foam center define the structure differences.
As far as results are concerned, they are really new, apart for Michle's prototypes used fr for almost all outdoor season after Shanghai WC (in Shangahi 2024 he was using C99 first prototypes but changed after then). In BB, Cinzia Noziglia has used them at Kings of Archery after one week from receipt, and she says she now prefers them over C88. One week ago Massimiliano Mandia in recurve shot 591 in competition with them (299+292) and has definitely abandoned his previous limbs (not GILLO). Michele shot 591 indoor 25 mt in November with prototypes, but is presently shooting the GF he has used at Lancaster this year, with C88 limbs, and setting up the production version of C77 on his GF for the outdoor season.
So what to say by now, they are performing most probably at same level, time will tell. But for sure, they are more colorful ... and happier 😂!

 

This will sound dumb, but I can't shoot bare bow; I need the long rod to rest the bow on while I'm loading. arrows, I'm all left thumbs and right feet trying to load an arrow holding the bow in the air.

I would like to shoot BB once, and extend my center serving up to my eye level just for a judge to try to make the argument of it being in "my line of sight."

I've shot gillo risers for Olympic as well as barebow for years and have shot some of my highest scores in both divisions. There is no drawback to using gillo in OR.

 

Gillo allowed me to shoot Olympic recurve again. Shot as a kid with Bear C Handle. out of archery until attending Cornell which had good bow fishing and hunting areas. Back to Ohio, mainly shooting for a place on the US team in Skeet as well as playing lots of racket sports-no archery until 93 or so-3D compound. Then Back to Olympic-first with PSE, then SKY, then Martin, then Hoyt and in 2014 a falling target butt and a kid in danger-well the tendon on my bow elbow got separated. 6 months of serious therapy, cortisone and then surgery-6 more months of therapy-and after that the surgeon noted I might be able to shoot 50-75 arrows a week. The fact that I had shot 750K hot 45 ACP and 9X21 Major loads in IPSC hadn't helped that elbow. So I went back to IAU/WCSA crossbow. Ordered some Gillo jerseys for a couple of my BB kids and in a PM with Vittorio he advocated a GT-I had already ordered one in formula-had a ton of formula limbs-my son, wife and I were shop sponsored hoyt shooters are one time. Now I have several GTs 25/27 and a couple GFs -now set up for people to try for BB-prefered the GT for Olympic. I have shot every set of limb style. Put Q5 on a 27" GT today. observations-I like the C77 best but only slightly more than the 88s-just a little faster and since the weights they are offered in are different-have 38 88s and 36 77s, I really haven't played around to get two bows with different limbs exactly the same so I am going on what I observe with lots of arrows down range. for the money, the discontinued Q2-which I find somewhat similar to the WNS MOTIVE or the GOLD GALAXY (LAS) limbs-they sold for about the same-are excellent limbs for the money-I probably own 20 sets-buying a ton when they were discounted. My wife-who had to drop weight after a cracked shoulder-used a 24 pound set of Q2s on her EPIX to win the Pan American indoor masters title 16 months ago and the top youth recurve archer in Ohio JOAD was on several national podiums with Q2s and just put up a very good score in an indoor ASA with a set of my Q7s. They seem the "stiffest" of the limbs at equivalent weights. We had problems with two sets of Q7s-and LAS took care ASAP. One set had a very small ding develop after a month and it got worse-LAS replaced them ASAP. one of my 68 38s developed a twist despite little use-again replaced no problem. One of my girls on USAT uses one of the first Set of Q7 in the USA and she compared them favorably with some of the very expensive Samicks (she has Masters and I think Extremes a few years old). I would note we have obtained at least 40 sets of Gillo Limbs in the last 7 years or so and only two issues. 30+ risers-no issues at all. The Q5 I set up today seemed a little faster than the Q2 but felt very similar. I would not that my wife and I ran a shop that catered to recurves for several years, I have shot just about every recurve bow available in the USA and I have luckily met or dealt with lots of good people over the years-Ann and Earl Hoyt at Sky, Bill and Kath Troubridge at Excalibur, Dick Tone and his wife at Cavalier are some that stand out and Gillo and Vittorio Frangilli are at the top of that list to. Every time I have a question-be it what size set screw fits a GT etc, I get a fast answer-something that has not happened with some other makers.

 

Well finally got it ordered... I was waffling between a formula GT, the ILF GT, and a GF; had each in my cart and last minute chose the GF. My ABC discount paid for shipping, so bonus there.

Only potential monkey in the wrench is the Alternative Services stock status; every "B-grade" riser I pulled up was listed as sold out with more on order... Hopefully it isn't a super long wait [or worse never shows up], but they did allow it into my cart and [of course] allowed me to pay for it.

B-grade does diminish it's value to everyone but me [it could come bare metal I won't know the difference].

 

So, I have yet to find any indepth set up/reviews of the GF; is the set up similar to the GT [there is a pretty lengthy series on the GT on YouTube]?

What is the +/- turns for the limb bolts? It sounded like in the GT coverage there wasn't a definite "stop" in or out for the effective range, is it the same with the GF?

 

So, I have yet to find any indepth set up/reviews of the GF; is the set up similar to the GT [there is a pretty lengthy series on the GT on YouTube]?

What is the +/- turns for the limb bolts? It sounded like in the GT coverage there wasn't a definite "stop" in or out for the effective range, is it the same with the GF?

I wrote one over on Reddit and cross posted it here.

There is no definite stop for the GF, but it is easier to return it to factory settings. You can set the clicker plate on top of the riser an adjust the pocket until the cutout is flush with the clicker plate. This is the factory setting. The GF can be adjusted to +5 and -6 full turns. I haven't tested it quite as thoroughly as the GT, but I believe that this effectively gives you something like +15% and -25%.

 

I will have to get my hands on it for this to make sense, I'm just not picturing it at the moment.

Kaminski described on the GT what sounds like an "inspection hole," one of those "you're too far out when you no longer see threads" kind of things... Am I understanding that correctly and if so did that feature carry over to the
GF?

 

I will have to get my hands on it for this to make sense, I'm just not picturing it at the moment.

Kaminski described on the GT what sounds like an "inspection hole," one of those "you're too far out when you no longer see threads" kind of things... Am I understanding that correctly and if so did that feature carry over to the
GF?

Yes. It did.

 

Then... in accordance with my slight fear A.S. informed me this morning the model I selected "may not be available..." So back to the order form.

But in regards to the inspection hole, this works out much easier I think; I can find the minimum [on either rise] and simply go up from there; with my current limbs [and lack of strength] I won't be at max poundages for a while.

 

Putting my Gf together; Apparently I'm not smart enough to lock down the tiller bolts? Grub screws or collet [sp] locks from the belly side of the riser, because I'm not finding a hex wrench to fit.

I didn't bother checking how many turns out the limb bolts are yet, I just threw on some limbs and a string [not even waiting for my slightly longer string to show up] drew it back and thought "feels close enough..." Ended up with a 9" brace [with room to remove some twists] on a 25" riser with med limbs, so probably a little tall but I haven't shot it yet.