Originally Posted by Wildwo od
Brifters are probably better for the vast majority of riders, but if you started cycling with downtube shifters (yeeeks, brifters have been around 20 yrs or so), there is a certain satisfaction with clean, no-look friction shifts and of course the nostalgia of it all.
There is - and there's also a robustness to downtube shifters that make them good for bikes that get ridden in rain and slop... stuff that makes brifters clog up.
