Let me put it this way, I ride my Nishiki so I think it's safe enough to ride under fair weather conditions. I guess it depends on the way you look at it. You get to know your bike and you work with what you have. It's a kind of relationship. But to outfit a new custom bike with these characters is something that behooves me unless you're trying to duplicate a retro vintage bike. The stem shifters are a bigger problem than the brakes IMO because of their placement. My gut runs into them throwing them out of gear sometimes during dismounts hence the term "gut rippers". It's a pain getting going again and some care is needed.