Originally Posted by
LesterOfPuppets
In the brifter realm, I found 8-speed Mirage to be a tad more finicky than 8-speed 105, but maybe that's not fair, I should probably compare Mirage to RSX, but I've only messed with 7-speed RSX, but I did find the RSX bombproof.
BITD, up to 9-speed the interchangeability of shimano road and MTB rear derailleurs was pretty nice, setting up 8-speed XT rear derailleur with 8-speed Ultegra brifters is nice, of course you still have to dig up a road front derailleur for drop-bar MTB or touring rig, but...
Microshift and it's clones/knockoffs are your friends. Their 2 paddle design(or SRAM's) beats the crunchy Shimano brake lever shift every day. The only drawback is no hidden cables. Of course once Shimano started hiding their cables, their brifters became cable eaters.
Also, these days 5-8 speeds all use the same chain. What's not to like. If you're a triple rider like me, no need to go above 8 or 9. In fact, one of my bikes is 3 x 7 with a 12-28 on back. 2 steps all the way till the 18. 3 to the 24, then the 28 cog.