Originally Posted by Chombi

In the end, Friction is like a violin while indexed is like a piano. One has keys that you use to get you the right notes and chords while the other depends mostly on the player's tactile and muscle memory. Both can play great music but just in different ways. I suspect though that there were a lot of cyclist that went into Indexed shifting when it first came out and never looked back as it does have its advantages.
I stay with friction with my bikes because that's just what I'm used to and I try to stay away from using indexed in case............I also end up not coming back to friction because I'd like it so much. I just always preferred the idea of the most minimalist approach in shifting that comes with friction..........it does not help too that I love weight weenie builds, so the simpler the system is, the better it is for me.

Chombi