Originally Posted by
woodystyle777
the bike choice will be between that and a 1998 LeMond Tourmalet. I think it has the shifters on the brake pedals. The person says it might need a tune. What do those usually cost?
It doesn't have the shifters on the brake pedals, because the bike doesn't have brake pedals, and if it did, and they had shifters on them, you couldn't reach them to shift. Could you mean brake LEVERS? I don't like those, either, but a lot of people do.
Millions of us, for decades, used downtube shifters with no problems. Some people still like them. You could "upgrade" (really it's just a change, not much of an upgrade) to barcon shifters pretty easily, for about $75 new or much less if you find an old bike to cannibalize at a thrift shop. Barcons plug into the ends of the handlebars--I have them on a couple of bikes and like them a lot. But ride the dowtube shifters awhile and see if you get used to them. They're light, efficient and trouble-free forever.