Originally Posted by
Aubergine
As for turkey levers, the common vintage Weinmann and Dia Compe levers were terrible. Lots of play in the mechanisms, which led to poor braking.
if I were you I'd go for modern aero brakes with the in line levers.
I won't disagree but I have had some success on making them work acceptably well. The quality of lever they are attached will effect their performance. Most of them were mounted on cheaper levers but I've ridden them mounted on better quality levers and they performed better. You have to run good cables and brake pads. Keep the wheels true and minimize pad to rim clearance.
"Big Bird", my 45 lb. Schwinn Varsity, still has chrome rims and the original center pull brakes including turkey levers. I'm running Jagwire cables and cantilever style brake pads. I only use the turkey levers when riding it and they have a very solid feel. I've made a panic stop or two where I actually locked up the rear wheel and the levers didn't bottom out against the handlebar like nearly all I had ridden in the past.
That said if originality isn't a concern it's brifters or aero levers with cyclocross interrupter levers for me whenever practical.
