Originally Posted by timcupery

It's a shame because once I polished the single-pivot brakes (after I took the picture), they're absolutely beautiful, so shiny. Honestly, they're really, really pretty, and the black-anodized "Shimano 600" logo perfectly in the pre-etched in the aluminum is great too. But dual-pivots do have better stopping power.

Single-pivot brakes stop plenty well (I've got 105's, SLR single-pivot brakes that Sheldon calls "the best single-pivots ever made" on my Raleigh) but the consistent response is that dual-pivots do give more stopping power because of greater mechanical advantage. They're also easier to keep centered, although once I learned to keep single-pivots centered it hasn't been difficult at all. Only real downside to dual-pivots (besides slightly heavier) is that they don't open as wide (because they're designed with greater mechanical advantage) so a broken spoke or slightly out-of-true rim is more likely to rub than with single-pivot brakes that open wider for a given amount of cable-slack.