Originally Posted by
sl___
Yep. I don't have to squeeze very far to stop/slowdown. However the issue seems to be it requires a lot of force to press on the brakes and is highly uncomfortable. I've tried braking on some different road bikes from the hood and it seemed much easier..
Do the opposite, loosen the brakes. Your hands/fingers can squeeze much harder when almost fully closed than when almost fully open. The slight increase in brake spring resistance is insignificant, at least in my experience. Also, buy better brake pads.
Edit: Just checked out the bike in your link - those levers look like Tektro RL520, which are V-brake levers. In combination with standard road calipers they would feel very hard under hand while providing little stopping power. Not sure the levers you actually have are those, but it's worth checking out.