Originally Posted by
capwater
Also, the allowance for margin of error on the FD is greater, you don't need the precision that you would on the RD.
I dunno. For Campy brifters with their micro-shift capability, close-enough-is-good-enough may work. For Shimano STI, the tuning has to be very accurate to index properly. Of course for friction front shifting with dt or barend shifters, the initial adjustment can be very crude.
Originally Posted by
capwater
Also have a Litespeed and hate the headbadge area for the stops.
I don't understand this unless you, like the OP, want to have downtube shifters. The cable stops on the Litespeeds are small, unobtrusive, have good barrel adjusters and keep the cable housing from rubbing against the headtube.