Originally Posted by
LBIkid
I built my Cross Check with Dura Ace bar end shifters and Pauls Thumbies sized to fit an old school Scott AT-4 bar. I love the setup. The friction mode allows for endless tweaking of the FD. And, if you decide you want to go to drops, you already have the shifters. Not the cheapest setup though as the barcons ran me about $70 and the Thumbies ran $65. Paired them with an LX trekking crankset, LX FD and XT RD. No complaints, it all works well together.
I run my bar ends friction for the front and indexed for the back. At first i was ready to move to indexing in the front because I was constantly tweaking, but after about a week of riding I pretty much knew exactly how far to move the shifter. The back is indexed because friction would require more specific adjustments, and it's harder to peer back and see what needs to be tweaked while riding. I really like the setup. I have often wished the shifters weren't down in the drops while riding in the city. The thumbies look like a great solution, though you are pretty much doubling the cost of the barcons, which negates the price advantage they have over STI.