Thanks! Love this bike.

I like the shifter in that position fine, though being an ass about aesthetics, it would be a little functionally nicer if I mounted it higher and damned the looks - but not enough to actually do it.

One thing about the Rohloff (if you haven't used yours yet) is that it inspires you to shift a whole lot more, and while I enjoyed the ease of STI shifters for years and years on my Bianchi, for the last few years my ride-about-town bike has been a Bike Friday with barcons, and since I rarely ride in the drops this is no worse, and even a little better since it's a single shifting operation rather than using two shifters.

I'm not sure, but you might still be able to mount one of these on your threadless because of the leeway you have in a semi open-ended mount like this (it attaches the same way the stem clamps the bars, with a little allen bolt to tighten it), though it would probably be tight. If you happen to be in the WNY area, I have the other bar end and would be happy to give it to you so you could try.