I am just over 6' and prefer stem over downtube shifters. I once had a commuter Schwinn LeTour where I replaced the downtube shifters with stem shifters. No problem. I currently run stem shifters on my winter bike, which is a hybrid that originally had grip shifters I didn't like. The old school friction stem shifters are reliable. Plus, if you want to pick some up, they are dirt cheap at any place that has used bike parts. They are associated with cheap bikes, though. For fun, you could put some of the carbon fiber looking tape on them and tell people they are the latest thing, referencing that they encourage body weight to stay on the center-line, resulting in more power transfer...or something like that.