Originally Posted by ApolloCVermouth
I like 'em. You can operate them from both the tops and the hoods (actualy sort of an intermediate position in between). If you like friction only than you can use whatever cheap down-tube shifter you like. The real advantage is that they let you use the 287-v brake levers and v-brakes which are by far the best rim brakes for most situations and are very easy to adjust.
That's not a bad endorsement. I read on Rivendell's site that the whole thing with the 287 brake lever was meaningless. In fact, here's what they say:
"For half a century road bike levers were used with cantilever brakes and nobody squawked. But with the introduction of low profile cantilevers, and the proliferation of cantilever designs in general (due to so many mountain bikes), there must have been some combinations of brake levers and cantilever brakes that didn't work, because back around 1987, Dia-Compe introduced a "cantilever-specific" road brake lever (mod. 287). It's mere existence sent the erroneous message that existing, non-cantilever specific road levers didn't work well with cantilevers. "They don't pull enough cable!" was the charge. But we have used a tremendous variety of road levers and cantilevers, and have NEVER experienced inadequate braking. Not even close. It could be that we've been walking through a mine field with a dozen guardian angels looking over us, but we've used road levers from Campy, SunTour, Shimano, Dia-Compe, and Modolo with cantilevers from Mafac, SunTour, Shimano, Dia-Compe, more SunTour, more Shimano, more Dia-Compe, and Paul."
Is there any truth to this?