I couldn't afford them either. Had to wait till about '79. Whatever can be said about their performance, their real strong point was that they greatly simplified bike maintenance for the race mechanic. You could strip them off a bike and whip them back on and have them adjusted and performing well in minutes. You could not say that about any centerpull. As for Universals, once you've seen a lever body crumble, well... Weinmann side pulls, on the other hand, were a sleeper. Incredibly cheap and very good, but no sex appeal.
Bob Schenker
Oakland, CA