I had a Dawes Galaxy with bar end shifters for a while. Liked the bike, hated the shifters. And I have nothing against friction shifting, I still have, and enjoy, downtube shifters on one of my bikes. It's all a matter of opinion, of course, but for me, bar-ends come third of the three alternatives, by quite a long way. More inconvenient than downtube shifters and much more likely to be knocked out of position. And I've never had a brifter fail.