I don't think I want brifters. The more I think about it, the less attractive they sound for the bike I'm trying to make.
too much trouble.
Luckily, the bike cost me nil. well, it cost my parents something in 1987, but let's consider that a write off
Maybe I'll learn to live with it. I'll give it a try a bit more. I was hoping there would be some easy solution to relocating my shifters. Stem shifting when greenroading doesn't sound appealing to me. Perhaps I could just get something to mount the shifters on the bars. Rivbike has some, but they're nearly as expensive as the retroshifters, and I would love to get new levers and hoods. My brother thought it would be nice to put some kind of cloth tape on the levers at some point and the residue it's left is quite gross. I spent about 30 minute sanding it last night to no avail. I think I need like an 80 grit to get it off.

I was thinking of getting different levers anyway so I could integrate some brakes on the inside as well (I think you guys call them inline or interrupter brakes?