Originally Posted by
twodownzero
You're welcome to prefer whatever you like.
Integrated shifters are the greatest innovation in drop bar bicycles in many generations. If their ergonomic merits isn't enough to convince you, then ride whatever you like. As you say, there are plenty of choices. This is certainly an innovation that I would not be without unless there was a damn good reason.
Brifters are a great innovation. All of your controls are at your fingertips. I cannot deny that. Ergonomically, they are superior to any other shifting paradigm. I agree with you completely. As a shifting system, when working correctly, it can't be beat. There are costs to it, however.
I look at the pros vs cons. If I were racing, that'd be the way to go. If I rode locally with a fast crowd, ditto.
It gets down to the way I like to ride. I like long rides out in the country, do some touring, and like gravel riding. I've seen too many broken brifters from minor crashes that making shifting impossible. I'm not big on index shifting either. I rode with them for a decade or two. They're great when they work, but there always seemed to be some adjusting to do too often for my liking. You can't trim the derailleurs. They add a lot of complication, and you're stuck with a proprietary shifting system. If you go down and bend your derailleur hanger, indexing doesn't work anymore. Non-brifter systems are more durable, less complicated, less expensive, and work on a variety of different cog combos. I can switch wheels and don't have to adjust for indexing differences.
I like to keep it simple, and the trade-off for simplicity is too much for me.
To say that bar ends, stem and downtube shifters are extinct is just plain incorrect.