I purchased this bike new from Performance in Chapel Hill, NC in 1995. It's been in my attic as I haven't ridden in years and want to start riding again. I didn't check things our before I bought a new Serfas seat and 2 new Michelin Pro 3 tires and new Shimano pedals.

It has Shimano 105 equipment and the right STI is not working. I am in the process of "degreasing" it hoping it will "click" back to life.
For the sake of this discussion, let's just say the shifter is dead and I have to replace it. The bike shop mechanic suggested I could go vintage and put some downtime friction shifters on it. The brazings are there.

I know I will either fix this bike up or buy a vintage/classic bike and it will have a steel frame. I know nothing about the frame quality of my bike so I don't know how far to go in fixing it up. I'll probably convert it over to more of a touring bike. I'm in my mid fifties so I think Im gonna be more of an upright rider. I sorta like the looks of some of the old Bridgestone X0's.

Can you shed some light on this matter for me? I'm stuck right now not knowing which way to go.