I agree with you 90%, fuzz2050. I have a bike with Campy Record sidepulls. I can stop very well with them, but it requires a lot of force with my hand. I understand that's a deal breaker for some people, and I respect that. But it is not true that using them is like a "suggestion" as phoebeisis says. phoebeisis, I think you are confusing hand effort with stopping power.

The 10% where I disagree with you, fuzz, is that some brakes don't stop me even with lots of effort. I just replaced my ancient Weinmann centerpulls with ancient Mafac centerpulls. Stopping power and modulability have both improved. The Weinmanns were just barely adequate. The Mafacs give me new confidence to go at high speeds with small clearances.

I also agree that cantilevers are hard to set up. I recently built a bike with them. The brakes work terrifically, and I wasn't as analytical as all these articles are. I suspect that my habit for setting them up is intuitively right. In other words, I know how to do it without being able to articulate it. I used cheapo Shimano cantilevers with the stock Shimano pads. The performance is extremely satisfying.