Very good--resistance isn't the best thing for your muscles or joints.
It's great for tweaking speed, like when you're on the bike path
easing into a corner, but downright bad for your knees on a downhill--
that's what brakes are for.
A couple upgrades that I think are totally worth it on an old bike are
bars and levers that give you flat tops and hoods that sort of just
flow together. I use the really wonderful Tektro 200A levers ($20)
which have a great comfy hood and super mechanical advantage. Nice
braking and feathering from the hoods.They also fit great on classic
Japanese Nitto handlebars like the B-105* or even B-135, which has a
flat section before the lever, unlike a lot of 70s bars, which had the
Italian style bend which had slopes--which had your hands gripping for
dear life to keep from slipping down.
http://jensonusa.com/store/product/HB409B08-Nitto+Classic+Handlebar.aspx
http://aebike.com/page.cfm?action=details&PageID=30&SKU=BR7210
*Mind, all bars aren't created equal when it comes to diameter, those
are 25.4mm.
