Campagnolo, Modolo, Mavic, and SunTour Superbe non aero all have similar feel and power to me and brake well from the hoods. (You can read my take on non-aero lever braking power in the archive.) Mostly I've used these with the intended self-branded calipers. I've used the later Campagnolo levers that came with Delta brakes. I used them with Record sidepull calipers and could not tell much difference in how powerful they felt used in aero mode compared with N.Record non-aero calipers. P.J.White has noted onlist that the Campagnolo levers for Delta had been designed to have about the same mechanical advantage as the N.Record levers instead of increased mechanical advantage like the Shimano and some other non-aero levers. I also brake from the hoods with Mafac non-aero with similar very good results but have only used the Mafac levers with Mafac centerpulls and and cantilevers so don't have much direct comparison to the other levers since the calipers are different.
As for comfort, the fully hooded mafacs I use have a bit wider body than the others which all seem very close in shape, in some cases direct copies of each other (SunTour of Campagnolo, Mavics are branded Modolos, Modolos are close versions of Campagnolo). Weinman non-aero with the white hoods as found on high end centerpull Raleighs are similar in shape to the Mafacs. I'm comfortable in the hoods on any of these for as many hours as I can ride, but they have a very different feel from current STI and Ergo levers so there may not be much backward acclimatization in lever comfort.
--Mitch
On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 5:48 PM, scott davis <francopedia@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> What's the best brake levers for riding the hoods. I'm not sure if th
is is mechanical advantag or not.
>
> I just mounted a set of Universal levers. My calipers are Dia compe w/
Scott/Math. brake shoes. They stop great when I'm down on the hooks, but a
re weak from the top of the hoods. Any suggestions?
>
> Scott Davis in Sunny St. Anthony, Minnesota
> sdbicyclegarage.com