I have two bikes, one has ultegra brifters and the other (my tourer) has dura ace bar-ends. I like them both and, between the two bikes, really don't have any trouble moving between the two. I do spend more time shifting on my around town bike (stopping, slowing down, lights, other cyclists, etc.) than I do on my touring bike. Real quick shifts don't seem as important when I'm touring, where I'm generally in more of a rhythm and also following a mellower vibe, generally, than when I'm dodging traffic in the city. I do like a couple of things about the bar ends, on my tourer, that I wouldn't like with my brifters on a touring bike: 1. Can shift into friction mode. Brifters can get finicky with adjustments in a way I don't want to puzzle much with while on a bike trip. On the bar ends, I can just move into friction if something isn't sounding the way I like it and worry about messing with adjustments later. 2. FD shifter is still friction. This may seem a disadvantage but a front triple with an old derailler from Sun Tour...I don't think it'd work with any brifter and the friction gives me a lot of latitude for trimming.