Interesting discussion here. I conclude that my hands are stronger than most people's hands. I can do a full panic stop from the hoods on old brakes and levers. Some people who have tried my bikes say the brakes "don't work." They're either unable to squeeze hard enough or are unaware of how hard they're supposed to squeeze or perhaps even able but unwilling. But it's really no trouble for me.

I was shocked and scared when I first tried V brakes. I thought they would be hazardous to inexperienced riders but that seems not to be the case. People get used to them. Dual pivots provide a little more feedback than V brakes, but both types can be mastered fairly easily.

One could argue that single pivots provided more modulation than center pulls because of the extra effort required. But dual pivots are a breakthrough where you get both ease of use (from increased leverage) and modulability at the same time. It's nice, and I have a pair on one of my bikes, but for me, it's not necessary. It's like indexed shifting. As some here say, it's nice to have but not necessary for those of us who are used to the old stuff.

Because of the reduced leverage, cheap Weinmann sidepulls were bad for loaded touring. I found that out the hard way. I did manage with them, but this is where the difference high quality sidepulls and low quality showed through. With high quality such as Campagnolo Record, the response is more linear. With flexible calipers such as Weinmann, when braking hard, the required extra effort from, say, 90% to 95% is higher than with stiff calipers such as Campagnolo.

I have Campagnolo single pivots on one bike and SunTour Sprint on another bike. They leave me totally satisfied. Without thinking about it, my hands adapt right away to the required effort. But today, I switched from the SunTours to my Tektro dual pivots, and I did notice that I'm barely putting in force to brake hard. Again, it's nice but not necessary for me. I'm 56, and my grip is still strong, for now.