thanks for the replies

IGH - i did actually test out a alfine 11 on another bike, great in many ways and kind of wish it worked for me but felt the drag and efficiency loss too much for how i want to ride a lot of the time. also ain't cheap even 2nd hand.

j remi- yes i think you right about the rear mech looks like it is in the design, i only went for it as ebay deal and liked that the gear cable didn't curl out at back. Thanks for clarifying FD specs. and yes bar ends are great love the simplicity.

with loosing front mech and shifting by hand, maybe a dumb question, how do you avoid potential chain drop? i know with a single chainring you can use a chain guide/guard to stop chain slipping off, that what i had on the bike originally. But would that also work ok with a double chainring? the guide/guard would need to be bigger to allow room to change over but that might then allow the chain to drop into lower chainring due to side waving?