I am a novice bicyclist, so any guidance here is much appreciated.

I have an older (late 1970s) road bike with 'dual' brake levers (sometimes called safety brake levers i think). Basically, rather than just the one bike lever on the end of the handlebar stem, these also have a second lever that runs parallel to the flat part of the handlebar stem. I have found these to be very convenient as I can easily use the brakes even while sitting up on the bike and not leaning over towards the handlebars.

However, when I read about replacement bike levers, I found several online commentaries that said that these types of dual brake levers are not very common anymore because they have found to be inferior to standard pull levers. A common reason cited was that, inherent in their design was that they did not work as well over time and tended to cause malfunctions. Also, commentators mentioned that a properly fit standard brake would eliminate the need to have a secondary braking lever.

So my questions is, is this sentiment true that dual pull brake levers are not worth using, in that they tend to cause more problems than benefits?

And if I may ask a follow-up question, are cylocross/interrupter levers are better alternative that can achieve the similar result of being able to have a second braking point on the handlebar?

Thanks in advance for any insights!