I'm a teacher with scads of summer time so I'm thinking of getting a touring bike for some summer excursions. So far I've looked at the Trek 520 and the Surley LHT. I've also observed some pictures on this thread of other bikes.
Why do touring bikes come mostly with bar end shifters? I primarily ride a road bike and find that riding "on the hoods" is very natural and I usually only go into the drops in headwinds or straight speed runs. I am also most comfortable having my hands on brifters so shifting and braking doesn't require a hand shift.
I'm sure I can get used to bar ends but do they work as smoothly as brifters? Have any of you converted bar end bikes to brifter bikes?
Thank you.
The main reason is because bicycle tourists tend to be a curmudgeonly bunch who don't like new fangled things and are tied to tradition (see also retrogrouch). Sometimes, I'm a amazed that bicycle tourists accept pneumatic tires
It also derives from an (unfounded) fear that new fangled stuff is delicate and will fail along with a mistrust and misunderstanding of system. People
want to have a friction mode because they just
know that the new index shifting (new 20+ years ago) isn't going to work and they'll be stuck on the side of the road. Then they'll have to hitchhike and they'll be taken deep into the backwoods somewhere and eaten
I, personally, don't like barends because they are always getting bumped and shifting gears.