Originally Posted by moxfyre
I say give 'em a shot... I got my friction Suntour shifters for $10, and a 7-speed indexed pair for free
Thanks for all the great advice! I think I will definitely give them a shot. Interesting about the 7-speeds: I haven't seen any out there (just the new 9/10 speeds) and some old used friction models. This is of note as in all likelihood my project bike will start with an old school steel road frame, and unless I'm mistaken rear fork spacing on those is generally for 7 speed gearsets.