Originally Posted by
Kimmo
IMO it should be possible to make a go of it doing only brifters, IF you can offer the indexing spares to convert them to be compatible with anything. If that's the basic premise, I reckon it has legs. Hell, if they were Ergo style, you could offer friction brifters.
That seemed like a good idea to Modolo a few decades back. Nice levers, with easily changed cams to fit a variety of systems. Lasted a few years, but wasn't sustainable. Since it's almost impossible to get OEM spec for levers only without the derailleurs, you're stuck trying to amortize big front end costs across a very limited sales base, putting you at a permanent competitive disadvantage.