i dispensed with FDs in 1995 (i always considered them an engineering abomination) and RDs in 2005. never really considered going back.
a month or so ago i slapped about four extra cogs on one of my SSs and put on my old Dura-Ace RD and my clamp-on downtube friction shifters. two cogs were smaller than the single one i usually run and two were larger. funny thing was that i thought i would enjoy going up hills in the lower gears, but it turned out i never used them, knowing, i guess, that i was fully capable with the higher gear i usually used. the higher gears were used on a slight downhills and with a tailwind. i removed the RD after about five or six rides.
trouble is, i really like that old Dura-Ace RD and those Shimano 600 clamp-on downtube friction shifters with the little gum rubber lever covers.
and the shifting action on those hyperglide gogs is fantastic.