Scott Davis wrote: What's the best brake levers for riding the hoods. I'm not sure if this 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 are weak from the top of the hoods. Any suggestions?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The current Bicycle Quarterly has an article related to this. What I'd add is that the Universal lever has LESS leverage than any other vintage lever I measured. That is, for a given angle that the brake lever travels, the brake cable is taken up more than for any other.
You have more strength squeezing from the drops than the tops. If you want more effective brake action from the tops, Jan Heine suggests modern "aero" levers. I'd suggest going with Weinmann or Mafac old-style to see if it helps.
harvey sachs
mcLean va