Originally Posted by capwater
STI all the way. Trade in your Model T Ford for something modern. Downtube .... well maybe if you're just tooling around, but as a racer I can appreciate the technology of STIs. No way am I gonna try to sprint for the line and have to reach down for a shift!!!!
However, they are neither dependable nor durable. Especially the shimano ones because they can't be rebuilt. Downtube friction shifters or barcons will almost never fail you whereas STI would've failed 30k times over.