Originally Posted by
cyccommute
All shifters are relatively cheap and rugged. Yes, STI levers are more expensive than barend shifters but they aren't any less durable. I've owned 31 personal bikes over the years and, between my wife and kids and myself, we've owned around 50 bikes. And I tinker all the time so I've owned many more shifters than bikes. Of all those bike and all those shifters...from friction to STI levers...I've had 2 shifters fail on me.
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Just a question, if you have owned that many bikes over X amount of years, and changed shifters to boot, how long was the longest that you rode with one set of shifters?
I agree that brifters are fine, even from my firm "retrogrouch" bar end school of thought, but I just wondered this.