When riding back in the 70s it was all friction. Cables were not teflon lined yet and I lived in a rainy area and did not perform maintenance very well ( I was a stupid stoner teen). I always struggled to find every gear I wanted, especially on the next to highest speed freewheel. These were all 5 speed huret components. Recently got into vintage with a Viner from early 80s 6 speed freewheel down tube shifter. This bike was shimano 600 and I rode for a while hoping my hand would re aquire the needed muscle memory. Then I started reading the C+V forum and discovered there were indexed DT shifters back then. Found a pair on Ebay and never looked back. Riding with stop lights means being able to find a shifter in a hurry, counting clicks is easier for down shifts, however, taking hands off the bar in traffic will always be an added risk, so I see modern drive trains using brifters being safer for me.