The safety levers on the Weinmann/DiaComp CPs actually consumed some of the brake lever travel. The result was that near perfect brake adjustment and true wheels were required for good braking, even with the regular levers. People were cautioned that the "suicide" levers were only for slowing. Another problem was that often the "slowing" situation turns into the stopping one! All in all, these were a fairly benign attempt to make most consumers comfortable on the wrong style of bike for their needs.
Joe Bender-Zanoni
At 10:39 PM 12/15/00 -0500, Jerry & Liz Moos wrote:
>I don't think there was really anything wrong with stem shifters, and
>although I never personally liked "suicide" levers, the only real problem
>with them was that it seemed to me that if there was a lot of cable stretch (
>to which the Weinmann/DiaComp CPs typically used with these levers were more
>suspectible than were SPs) and if the brakes were not adjusted, perhaps the
>levers could bottom against the bars before the pads firmly gripped the
>rims. I never really used these levers enough to experience this situation,
>and it may have been a lot less likey to happen than I thought at the time.
>
>Regards,
>
>Jerry Moos