ok, thanks for the advice everyone. I really dont want to go with down tube shifters, so i guess ill try and stick with the bar ends for now then, and maybe if i dont like them change them in the future, it seems like it will cost a lot to change to the indexed gears. As i said, ive only really just got into road cycling, all my bikes in the past have been mountain bikes, generally with the grip shifts, so i suppose it will just take a while to get used to this new setup