Well, I'm going to pick up a set of brifters and give it a whirl. I've heard that the front derailleur has to be changed too, but as shown in this thread for every person that says yes there's another that says no. Anyway, front derailleurs are cheap so if I need one, I'll get one. I'm simply pleased to hear that crank, cassette and chain are OK as the new cranks are crazy expensive.
Thank you for the replies.
Mike