Twenty years ago I bought a touring bike with lower end (Shimano RSX) brifters. Prevailing wisdom is that they're not reliable enough for hard-core touring, and my plan was to replace them with basic downtube shifters if they ever break. (If I do any more hard core travel, I'll carry those with me.) Well over 50K miles later, they still haven't broken and have never missed a shift. The hand position and easy shifting are perfect for me.