To Doug, Chris, Aldo, and Dale, et.al.,
Thanks for all your replies regarding the levers on my Mondonico. I am leaning toward the problem being poor mechanical advantage. I wanted to see if others had the same experience. These were the first levers of that era that I have used. Otherwise, I've used more modern aero levers and older non-aero - none with the same issues.
I replaced all cabling and housing when tuning the bike up to ride, so I am sure there are no kinks in the cables, everything is in good working condition, and that the cables and housing all go together. I did also check the potential the that caliper nut was too tight. It was not. I will throw a little more lubrication all around for good measure, though, and consider upgrading to teflon cable housing next tune up. Otherwise, I may ditch the levers for something easier on the hands.
Any suggestions for levers that would fit in with the bike would be welcome. The current levers, calipers, front der. and seatpost are Athena. The crank is Chorus (I've been told first year Chorus). The hubs are Record, small flange freewheel with Campagnolo semi-aero rims. The shifters are Campagnolo bar-end with navy blue rubber. Rear der. is Centaur from the MTB line (wanted bigger range in back, and the Athena was crunched). 6 speed feewheel. Bike is black with off-white cabling and red bar tape - honey Brooks saddle.
Ciao, Sarah Clatterbuck, Sunnyvale, CA (forgot the location last time - sorry)