Another thing about Universal levers, the bodies can crack from being tightened to the bar too hard; periodically peel back the hoods and look on the underside of the lever body. As to Sheldon's cable adjuster suggestion, Jagwire makes a nice item like that, @$10/pair in bike stores. David Feldman
<classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2001 12:29 PM Subject: Re: [CR]opinions on quality of Universal Super 68 brakeset
> KEN TODA wrote:
> >I have 2 sets in my collction, one set with Windsor Pro, and the other
with
> >Super Mondia. They looks great, and I like the quick release mechanism.
The
> >are lighter than Campy or Shimano.
> >
> >But, some reason, (maybe pads are responsible), I feel DO NOT have very
much
> >power to stop or slow down. If you look the main pivots and arms, (power
> >distributions, geometry/vectors?), the arms for leverage ARE SHORTER than
> >Campy's.
>
> I' blame the levers. The old Universal levers are a good news/bad
> news item. The good news is that they're very, very light, possibly
> the lightest ever.
>
> The bad news is that they don't have much mechanical advantage, so
> you need a lot of finger strength to stop. They're even worse than
> old Campag levers in this regard.
>
> Further bad news is that they are rather fragile...the adjuster
> assembly can easily be knocked off the top of the hood.
>
> If you get a pair of the nice $40 Shimano aero levers (there's
> _nothing_ better) your Universal calipers will give great results,
> but you'll have to rig up some sort of inline adjusters for the
> cables.
>
> Sheldon "Used To Like These" Brown
> Newtonville, Massachustts
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