veganbikes

First off make sure your saddle is at the right height. Don't say you prefer it or you can get used to it, it can cause knee pain and is not worth the trouble. A poorly fitting bike is no good for anyone even if it shifts like a dream.

Secondly friction shifters allow you to make corrections in your gears so you don't make noise and allow you to run different combinations of gears and derailleurs at the front. Some of the cheap modern stuff like Shimano Tourney just doesn't shift well at all but a good retro-friction set up (like from Dia-Compe or old Campagnolo something with a nice ratchet ) should be quite nice and allow you that fine tuning. Indexed gears are fine and dandy but friction is sometimes a great way to go. You cannot make a bad shift in friction because you can easily correct it and at least up to probably 9 or maybe 10 speed you can do it so if you bugger a shifter you can replace it with a bar end, thumb or downtube shifter that is friction and keep going for pretty cheap.