Count me in for liking stem shifters. I have them on an old 80's kind of bike and they are the most hassle free maintenance item on all my bikes. Also note the 'suicide brake levers'. LOL and they work fine.
i like riding on the top bars so these levers are fine for me, no city riding, so no suicide stopping either.
In the end its ride what you like. Too bad the stem shifters were not more available in Quality as they sport the Best of all worlds kind of bike components.
Hmmm, i can see a cash register in the back ground and the price of 'high quality brifters'. Ok nuff said.
My other bike has $$$ Tiagra shifters. And my MTB has the thumb shifters, again works fine and virtually no maintenance. Did i mention the MTB was about 25 years old?
Wish i had a bike with bar ends, as their are advantages to them. Take the Touring Bike; many like them because if something goes wrong with the shifter, a repair is possible on the road and tend to be more immune in a crash vs brifters.
Look at my old bike and note the position of the stem shifters, hmmm below the bars. Yep, some have said that stem shifters are 'dangerous' because they extend above the bars, and in a crash when you go over the bars, that will hurt.
Well if you are in a crash, i think a lot more will hurt than those stem shifters.
Most of my riding is rural, so DT shifting is fine. We go miles before stopping and i like the simplicity and beauty of them. Now i need to find a nice bike so equipped. Delightful problems indeed.
Something i have noted upon growing older is the simple appreciation of things. Some types of people just won't be seen with whatever and carefully guard their image of who they are, projecting this and that.
Gets old.
Want more fun? Ride a unicycle or Recumbent bicycle. Perhaps an old Tandem with a handicapped friend, i do.
And you know what happens when you 'take the road less traveled'?
(pssst, it makes all the difference)
bye