Originally Posted by
SJX426
Universal lever bodies and brake calipers are cast and not forged. Castings do not have an noticeable elasticity and don't deform, they fail catastrophically. That doesn't make them a bad caliper or lever base.
Designing with castings is a poor choice of saving money over durability, however.
P1000593, on Flickr
Impact with a car at 21mph
P1000602, on Flickr
French castings from Bike Boom-era are notoriously bad...those brake handles in above posts showing classic "metal rot" from a bad mixing of materials...stuff just crumbles away. Cast French "death stems" of Bike Boom-era have both bad alloy and poor design (no stress relief holes for example) and are really only good for wall hangers and parade bikes but I would not do any serious riding with them. I'm a vintage French-bike guy but for my period-correct builds I go with the contemporaneous forged stems from 3t.