Touring - Question about used gear package to buy: brifters or bar ends

I'm being offered a bunch of great stuff (at good price) to assemble a touring / commuting rig
one of the items offered is a set of Shimano Sora Brifters (9 speed w/cables/housing less than a year old)
$60

question is... should I just go with this (it's there) or save my $ and go with a bar-end?
The RD is a Shimmy Tiagra 9 speed

I'm pretty sure I can predict what the majority of responses will be on this forum!....Personally, I've never used brifters, so I can't speak from experience on those. I've got bar-ends on my tourer/commuter, and I love them. They're Dura-Ace nine speed, matched with an XT der. on the rear and a 105 triple on the front. Say what you want about Shimano, but to me it's pretty cool that you can mix and match like that and get excellent performance. I use the index mode on the rear der., and friction is the only option on the front (which makes sense, because it allows you to "trim" the front derailluer as the chainline moves on the rear). Check Nashbar, I think they've got the Dura-Ace Bar Ends at a good price, probably about the same as you'd pay for the used Sora brifters you mention.

I have Ultegra brifters on my touring bicycle. They have worked beautifully for over a year, and are a pleasure to use.

It irritates me that the Shimano brifters are not (easily?) field-maintainable, but for me, choosing components is about making trade-offs. I probably would have chosen bar-end shifters if my touring plans included destinations in remote areas. But that's not the kind of touring I do. So I opted for more elegantly designed components over slightly more mechanically robust components.

I currently have Ultegra brifters on my tourer, but will be changeing for barend (for the type of touring I'll do).

I like STI, and have 4 bikes with brifters (1 Dura Ace, 1.5 Ultegra, and 1 105).

Bar-ends. Sooo nice!
Of course, I've never tried those integrated things, but I can't imagine it's as good.

I am pretty sure that sora tops out at 8 speeds but I'll check the shimano bible at work tommorow.

Bar-ends. Sooo nice!
Of course, I've never tried those integrated things, but I can't imagine it's as good.

What I like most about integrated brake levers/shifters is that both hands securely hold the handlebars in my most frequent riding position. The ability to change gears while both hands are on the handlebar improves overall control.

It is also nice to be able to shift gears almost instantly without moving my hands. I do not miss down-tube shifters at all.

Brifters: too many inky-dinky parts to go wrong; pricey.
Barcons: simple, good price, much easier to 'trim.' Can change from index to friction.
Have tried D/A brifters . . . changed 'em out for barcons.

sbeatonNJ is correct, I believe, regarding the Soras being 8-speed shifters.

I am pretty sure that sora tops out at 8 speeds but I'll check the shimano bible at work tommorow.

I think you are correct on this point (hmms)
the seller is offering a bunch of parts (I am out of town and don't have access to the list). But I know that the rear wheel has a 9 speed cassette on it... perhaps the brifter is Tiagra?

begs the question... if they are Sora Brifters and the included wheel has a 9 speed cass, what would happen? Would it work but not jump to one of the gears?

hmmms...

An eight speed indexed shifter won't work with a nine speed cassette. Not only will you not have enough clicks, but the index spacing will be off. But if the seller has parts that came off a bike that shifted correctly, then obviously the parts are matched accordingly. Getting back to your original question, though, I'd have to say the key issue is whether or not you want the quickest shifting available, without moving your hands from the bars at all, or whether or not you can get used to the somewhat less convenvient but simpler barcons. Personally, for a tourer/commuter, I think the barcons are ideal. You're not racing anybody, or at least I'm not. But if you order the Dura-Ace barcons, they come in an 8speed model, a 9speed, or even a 10speed, I think. One thing that's great about them, too, is that you can switch to friction mode on the rear der. too if the indexing gives you problems. Going back many years, I've done a lot of shifting with friction shifters. But I will say that the Shimano XT nine speed trigger shifters on my mountain bike are the best I've ever used for quick shifting and ergonomics. As I said earlier, I've never used Brifters, but obviously they're designed for the same type of quick, ergonomic shifting. Even mountain bikes these days are available with the integrated shifter/brake levers. I don't see myself going with that setup on my MTB any time soon, though......And one more thing, I'd have to say $60 seems a little high for used, lower-end shifters. Just my opinion.

okay...maybe I'm confused or naive... but clarify some terminology for me:

I was under the impression that 'Bar-end' shifter were like the Dura Ace deals, with the levers, that could be configured friction or indexed
The 'Barcons' were the twist grip shifters that are more common on MTB rigs (straight bars)
Or are they being used interchangeably?

I have yet to see the bag-o-parts and the frame (parties are out of town), so I have yet to decide... but I'm thinking that there may be some mismatching (Sora Shifters/9 speed Shimmy cassette)
The seller did offer some older Suntour friction Bar-Ends and correct matching Dia-Compe brake levers to match the V-brakes. Cost comes out about the same... Arrgh... decisions!

to be honest, I'm glad to get a variety of opinions and experiences (Bar-ends vs. Brifters) The practical part of me leans towards Bar-ends (the choir here in Touring agrees mostly); the convenience part of me leans to brifters...

okay, here is one more (rhetorical?) question: can I assume that setting up friction or even indexed Bar end shifters will be easier than the brifters??

I think some of the old Suntour bar-end shifters were called "barcons," and the term has become interchangeable with "bar-end." Derived from "bar control" I guess. The other type of shifter you talk about, usually referred to as "twist shifters" or "grip shifters" are made by SRAM for MTBs. Interestingly, SRAM is now making some nice MTB trigger shifters and Shimano is abandoning this type of shifter in favor of the integrated brake lever/shifter on their MTB stuff. So in the future, to get good MTB trigger shifters, it may have to be SRAM! But when I referred to Dura-Ace barcons, I was most definitely talking about bar-end shifters, the little lever assembly that inserts into the end of drop bars or moustache bars......as far as set-up, my experience has been that they're all pretty easy, at least there doesn't seem to be any that are any more difficult than another (my experience is with downtube shifters, stem shifters, bar-end shifters, MTB triggers and MTB grip shifters; no brifter experience). With used stuff, you might need to replace the cables-

Had bar ends on my TREK 520 and hated them. Replaced with bifters.

I'll throw out an idea... I'm considering keeping the brifter for the Rear, but putting a bar end on the RIGHT handlebar for the front. Since most of my shifts are on the rear, it's nice to have the brifter, I can reach it easily from where ever I am on the bar, and I notice that I'm more likely to shift to keep in a good gear, as opposed to grinding, 'cuz it's so easy. The front shifts are less common, and almost always in conjunction with a rear shift. I simulated the actions while riding today, and found that it's not a big move from the brifter to the bar end, just a bend at the wrist and a small movement. The one thing that I never liked about bar ends was that a double shift required moving both hands down to the drops. This way your left hand stays put, and it's just a little movement to the bar end.

Potential benefits would be that you could use a MB front DR if you're using a MB crank, as opposed to the tuning to try and get a road triple to handle it. Also, you can tune a lot easier with the bar end in friction mode. A third benefit would be that nobody else has a rig like that, so you automatically get some bragging rights.

Downsides would be that you would need 1 RH brifter, 1 LH Brake, 1 Bar end. I suspect that a brifter with no connection to a DR would want to flop around a bunch. so it may be a bit of a problem making everything look good together.

Just an Idea,

Steve W.
Who's Primary Cat just destroyed 2 rolls of bar tape while he was out riding. Anybody want a cat?

My $0.02:

Bar ends are smarter for touring in the unknown, but brifters are just fine, and fun to use.

Not to go OT, but I also am a fan of clipless pedals. Not everything new is evil.