Tripod Usage?

[jrw]

A bit of a follow up. That Auctus 323 weighs around 8 lbs before adding the head. It is far more stable than my older Gitzo 3 LS series especially on a windy day, just a wee bit heavier, about 2x, and far less costly especially when on sale which doesn't happen often enough with Gitzo. Being rated for 40 lbs of load it will take anything I can throw on it. The center column is very rigid with tapered locking mechanisms on both the top and bottom.
One thing I have noticed looking at newer Gitzos in the stores is that the leg angle locking mechanism seems to have been changed and is no longer as wide nor as steeply angled, with a poorer fit, as it used to be for optimum self-locking properties. The newer travel series have even narrower points of contact with the legs. I am curious as to whether this has affected the overall stability of the tripods?

Edit: I should add that at least 80% of my shots come from a tripod, or a monopod. The improvements from the stability are very much worth the time and developing the disciplined approach which I did carry over from film and especially MF. Of course if I did street photography, not studio and landscape primarily, I would expect my usage to be VERY different......