Originally Posted by
nlerner
At one point, I felt like 5-6 speed friction was all I wanted and all I needed (and this was long after the introduction of indexed systems). Then, I acquired a bike with 7-speed indexed bar-ends. Oooh. I liked that a lot. Then I started experimenting with 8-speed Shimergo systems (10-speed Campy brifters and 8-speed Shimano drivetrains mate perfectly) and 9-speed Shimergo systems (ditto for 11 Campy/9 Shimano). Then, I sprung for a modern 10-speed Shimano 105 group for a particular group (though I have found it runs better in 9-speed mode). Now I have one 1x11 bike (SRAM drivetrain and shfiters) and one 2x11 bike (Campy Potenza drivetrain and shifters).
The fact that all the major manufacturers abandoned triples put an upper limit on my drivetrain modernization -- 10-speed for Shimano, 11-speed Athena for Campy, 8-speed Sachs New Success for SRAM. I see Gevenalle has a 12-speed shifter. I could do that. But, honestly, I was happy with 9-speed. I only moved to mostly 10-speed because the components were more readily available.