Originally Posted by
Cross Creek
Stem shifters don't pose any more risk to your anatomy than the angled quill stem they're attached to! If you go over the handlebars, neither is a threat, and if you slide off the saddle into the top tube, that's going to get your attention a lot faster than the stem or shifters!
In my 50 years of cycling, I have heard of one castration. All men's bikes have top tubes. Nearly all have stems with that corner. Perhaps a quarter have stem shifters. I rest my case.
Ben