Two other quick notes...
The long/wonky cable routing (which, with modern housing, is really a nonissue in terms of performance) is easily remedied by only staying under the bar tape until the bend in the drops. Not as elegant aesthetically, I'll grant you that. But superb functionality.
And the "everything backward" issue is really just a matter of mindset. Even though their rotation around a similar axis is reversed, the rider's physical action is unchanged. Pull for big ring, push for small. Pull for large cogs, push for small. So really nothing is reversed at all. Except it is.
