Since I've never rode on the cheapest sidepulls ever made, I would have to disagree. I've used mid to high end side pulls and mid end (Athena) center pulls. Like I said earlier if all conditions are equal they will all stop a bike just as quick. The thing I like about side pulls like I said before is their ability to modulate better.

We can argue about this till we're blue in the face, it's just my opinion based on my experiences...except for the braking distances being equal, that's not an opinion it's fact. You can only stop as fast as the tires will grip the surface, thus if the rims, pads, tires, air pressure, road conditions, bike weight, and (160 pound) rider weight are the same, all brakes regardless of design will stop the bikes in the same distance. Once the rider weight or carrying weight goes over 200 pounds the advantage may slightly lean toward cantilevers (and especially disk but let's not use that example) due to less caliper movement.

Some, if not most of the Shimano SLR design was copied from Dia Comp who also made Suntour. Also Shimano had a slightly better version of the SLR 105 version they slapped the Dura Ace 7402 name on it that used thicker calipers for less flex, ball bearing movement, and a lighter spring. But again, if all things being equal you can only stop as fast as the tires will allow.