Originally Posted by andrewclaus

It's hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like a common mistake has been made on at least one of them, using long-pull linear brake levers where a short pull lever is needed. The long pull levers supply roughly half the mechanical advantage needed for the road and canti brakes. It nominally works, but a very strong grip is needed.

I started volunteering at a non-profit where all the brake levers were tossed into the same bin. Nobody there knew the difference. Now the levers are separated and all the volunteers are schooled in the difference.