Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 23,645
Likes: 1,109
From: Mans of NC & SW UT Desert
Bikes: 86 Katakura Silk, 87 Prologue X2, 88 Cimarron LE, 1975 Sekai 4000 Professional, 73 Paramount, plus more
The standard choice is the older friction only Suntour barcons. I have used a lot of them. Very reliable in my experience.
I just took a set of Shimano 7 speed indexed bar ends off a garage sale bike picked up last week. They are nice too, but hard to find, and only index with Shimano index compatible RD and freewheel/cassette (which I already had on my bike).
I avoid Suntour indexed anymore, as NOS freewheels have gotten silly high (and I am less confident on hoping a used freewheel is OK, about half of them flunk my "mash up a hill" skip test.
Brifter bikes are great, you will need a Shimano RD and cassette of course. On brifter bikes, I have settled in on 8 speed Shimano 600 and DA, rebuildable, reliable, and aesthetically pleasing (to me at least). Hoods are getting hard to find.