Originally Posted by cyclintom
One thing that I've mentioned elsewhere - combination shifters on a bike used off-road isn't a particularly good idea. While they seem to last OK they're heavy, clunky and aren't nearly as cool as bar-ends. For my tastes, give me DuraAce bar-ends over combination shifters any way on a cross/touring/commute bike. And because everyone is looking for combinationa shifters the bar-end bikes go a lot cheaper.
Heavy? Perhaps nominally so, but I'll trade a few grams for the ability to keep both hands on the hoods through some twitchy technical or on a climb and still shift on the fly. I lose my sense of rhythm when I have to fiddle with bar-ends.
Clunky? Not in my experience. I personally find STIs a whole lot easier to use than bar-ends, though this might just be a matter of what I'm/you're used to.
Cool? Granted, there is a certain Luddite charm to bar-ends, but neither coolness nor charm help me get up that hill any faster. I save my stylish concessions for the beater fixie conversion.