Well this has inspired me to some degree. Have one 123 that the brakes seem sub standard in comparison to the other 123s. Booster seems to be ok and pads seem good. Although to be fair I never deglazed them. Paricularly no obvious sticking calipers. Rebuilt master cylinder more as a precautionary thing when first aquired car. Guess will know what i am going to be doing to that brake system this spring. Will deglaze and reinstall pads first just to check. Do not like the pedal effort required on this car and has been the same since i got it.I kind of suspect yours felt much the same before you did the job. Almost makes a guy wonder if the pistons get hung up a little as they are extending. Seems impossible though. My bet is still the pads have a low coefficent of friction from previous usage. The good thing about your calipers replacement is since you notice less drag the rotors and pads will wear a lot slower.