I got a blue Firenze GL1000 12 speed for free today and I was wondering if this model is known for catastrophic failure. I know the GL5000 15 speed is notorious for breaking catastrophically while riding, but I am not so sure about the GL1000. I already stripped the cheap stuff off of the frameset of all the cheap components and am debating whether to build it up as a singlespeed on geared bike with slightly nicer components.

It is slightly different than the red GL500P 15 speed ones as it is 12 speed with stem shifters and not 15 speed with top tube shifters.