Two more bad aspects of these levers:
Along with the mechanical disadvantage they also are really big. If you wear a medium or small glove, forget these levers.
Also the housings can crack.
Joe I like them plenty myself and remember when they sold new for $29.95 complete with cables
At 03:29 PM 6/17/01 -0400, Sheldon Brown wrote:
>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
>+-----------------------------------------+
>| A ship in the harbor is safe, but |
>| that is not what ships are built for. |
>| --John A. Shedd |
>+-----------------------------------------+
> Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
>Phone 617-244-9772, 617-244-1040, FAX 617-244-1041
> http://harriscyclery.com
> Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
> http://captainbike.com
> Useful articles about bicycles and cycling
> http://sheldonbrown.com