Originally Posted by
bikemig
I have them on two bikes as they the "safety" levers came as original equipment: a 1970s Sekine SHS 271 and a 1972 Schwinn Sports Tourer. These are pretty well designed levers as these things go (one is a shimano, another a weinmann). I like them. I use them.
I'm pretty certain that is a Diacompe lever. The tab that is a brake release is a Diacompe feature. (I liked it. Very useful in a race once. I crashed. Got up to chase and found my front rim wobbling brake shoe to brake shoe. I could throw that release off without taking my hands off the bars and keep full braking power the rest of the race. Finished in the "money" - 1978 so that was a joke! That detail was appreciated.)
Other comment that your photo illustrates so well - notice that the top of the lever at the brake bends down into the gap between the lever and the lever body. This rotates the grip portion of the lever about a 1/2" closer to the bars, dropping your ultimate braking power (or range of adjustment/allowable negligence). Most of the common "safety" levers do this. Weinmann of the day (I saw these in 1977) used a different detail that did not compromise lever range. It left a fastener/attachment point when it was taken off so this wasn't entirely a blessing but when the levers were on, that was a substantially better detail. (It's been a longgg time -and head injury - since I looked at one of those so I cannot describe it further.)