Sarah,
It is just the nature of those levers. They were a modification of the existing Campy non-aero lever and they just have poor leverage on the cable compared to newer aero lever designs. I have big and strong hands, and I have to give my '87 Campy Victory levers a pretty mighty squeeze from the hoods to decellerate much. I am not sure if the braking is easier from the hoods in the exposed cable configuration.
Doug Van Cleve Chandler, AZ
P.S. I was guessing based on the year mentioned that yours are set up with aero cable routing...
On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 15:58:00 -0800, Sarah Clatterbuck
<webmaster@sfsportfishing.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have a late-80s Mondonico with a mostly Athena group. It has aero
> brake levers with off-white hoods. My only complaint about the entire
> setup is that the brakes feel very stiff and difficult to activate from
> the hoods - though a bit easier from the drops. I recently put Koolstop
> salmon pads on the front, which has significantly improved the braking
> ability. Though, I do find my fingers still becoming quite sore on a
> long descent. Any suggestions? BTW, I am running Shimano Tiagra brake
> levers on my touring bike and have no problem getting these to activate
> without making the hands ache.
>
> Thanks,
> Sarah