Originally Posted by Jeff Neese

Downtube shifters are more suitable for road bikes and would be awkward on that type of bike. Besides, he probably wants indexed shifting so there's nothing that would work anyway. Rim brakes would be fine but those are almost non-existent in this space, so you're going to be forced into disc brakes whether you want them or not. It's the hydraulic part that is a big ask for this price point.