I've used brifters on a Novara Randonée & bar-ends on a Surly Disc Trucker, both worked fine. On steep downhills I feel more comfortable with hands on brake hoods so brifters are more safe/convenient there, also brifter gear shifters can be reached from drops too--bar-ends only instantly accessible from one position. OTOH Shimano brifter cables stick out a lot in front of handlebar & can get in the way of bags/luggage. Bar-ends are very simple & are kinda fun too, like driving a stick-shift car vs automatic. IMO it's a tie.