It does depend. If you just want a good, sturdy bike, without plans for racing, an older steel bike works perfectly. Down tube shifters are old technology, but work extremely well.
You could try PM'ing someone like bigbossman to ask him about how he retrofitted his Palo Alto frame (or, just read some of his threads).
East Hill
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TRY EMPATHY & HAVE LOVE IN YOUR HEART, PERHAPS I'LL SEE YOU ON THE ROAD...