I like all the modern designs with the brifters and such, but for some reason I agree. My dad's old bike (not that old, a late 80's Miyata) has some sort of indexed downtube shifting, but the action is great. It is just so clean and crisp and you can get some trim going, which is great. I really like the system for its simplicity, but as far as shifting while sprinting or climbing, it is nice to have the brifters (and probably safer in every case, too)