Just my .02. I have the Forte Microshift brifters with Shimano RD and I LOVE it. Easy operation. Quick, crisp shifting. No problems shifting from above or below. I would recommend highly. Especially if you can get the brifters on sale for 120.00 like I did!

oh yeah, and I love the trim on these brifters for the FD. I never have any noise in any gear combination because of the trim settings (and my meticulous adjusting when setting them up).