Everybody is friends now. And the front brake lever feel is very strong and very crisp. Very satisfying. Also satisfying is the ease in which the brake lever cable is able to be mounted, as well as how easy it is to 'hook' the straddle cable to the yoke. I love Tektro CR720s and their nifty straddle cable yoke, but it is very annoying to set up and run cables through. This bent piece of metal is the timeless and elegant C&V solution.
As we know, one of the "disadvantages" (or simply, hurdles) of 'aero' cable rounting + standard canti setups (meant for 'non-aero' levers and cable routing) is the awkward S-curving the cable/housing must take from the handlebars to the headset-mounted cable stop. I've used a fork-mounted cable stop before, and that eliminates the issue. I didn't want to do that here (read: pay for it, if it was even available at all!), and used the tall Technomic stem to my advantage. The brake cable, coming from the brake lever, would be smoothly routed from the front of the bar to the back of the bar, and then allowed a much smoother, less acutely curved path to the cable stop. Getting the cable housing length right was necessary, and I was able to do that.
Picture of the rear set up. After not liking how nearly non-existent the springs were for the rear canti arms, I swapped springs from side to side. No dice. I feared I may have to tweak them, but I decided to swap the springs back. I must have changed their orientation in their 'pockets' (even if I thought I had done so already) and voila! Tons of spring rate! Naturally this makes for a bit of lever effort when pulling them, but with enough fiddling, I was able to have the front and rear brake levers "bite" at the same time when I pull them with both hands simultaneously.
See the swoop!
Ok, so you all get a sneak peak at the overall proportion of this thing, albeit 'under construction.' The seat post and saddle are in their final positions, as are the stem, bars, and brake levers. It's a great proportion, and thus a great look. All that opining over lost proportion with my Paramount is fixed by small geometry/tube 'movements' (well, if a 30mm longer head tube is 'small'....). I have some shift cable swapping around to do thanks to under-BB routing (for both cables) as well as a 30mm longer chain stay (for the the right/rear cable). We are getting close!
