He's just a really open-for-discussion person who seems to have had very bad experience with a bike with single-pivot brakes.

We could have a poll over whether it's more likely that his hands are weak, or I and Mr_IGH are both "brainwashed."

Based on his description, it doesn't sound as if brake-pad quality was ruled out as a factor. Nor is there any explanation of why (beyond brake pad compound) sidepulls would "SUCK particularly in wet."

In terms of basic mechanical design, as I mentioned above, dual-pivot brakes have slightly increased mechanical advantage over the typical single-center-pivot sidepull brakes.
So, all else being equal, dual-pivot brakes will have slightly greater ability to lock up the wheel and/or stop quickly.

But all other things are rarely equal in this comparison. The main reason for people who rule out single-center-pivot sidepull brakes is probably the vastly varying quality levels, both of brakearms and brake pads.
Dual-pivot brakes are newer and slightly more complex to manufacture and assemble, and so have rarely appeared in very low-quality form. But low-end single-pivot sidepull brakes shouldn't be allowed to wreck the reputation of the technology itself.

I've run single-pivot Shimano 105 sidepulls (from late 1980's) on multiple bikes, and currently still use them on my most frequently-ridden road bike. They work great.


I also run less-recent (and more-akin to the classic simple Dia-Compe design) sidepulls on my Miyata, which used to be a commuter and is now a fixed-gear build (and I'm not the type to skimp on brakes because I wannabeahipster). These also work well.


Note that I'm using recently-produced Shimano brake pads on both brakesets.


Now, the OP seems to have low-end Dia-Compe sidepulls with thin-ish aluminum arms and washers (probably not real bushings, let along bearings) at the pivot. And old brake pads. But the first thing I'd do on these, if brake function is sub-par, is to replace the brake pads. If that doesn't take care of any problem, you can still use those brake pads later, so you haven't wasted your money.


Then again, maybe I'm just brainwashed