OP: "I honestly tried front derailleurs this year. I do a lot of climbing after all. But once you've lived without a front derailleur, you just can't ever go back."

hear! hear!.

best thing i ever did, cyclingwise, was ditching, for good, my FDs in 1995. second best thing i ever did is a tie between dumping my '94 cannondale hybrid and my cycling computer.