I usually think of it the other way around - I use Windows occasionally, so I like challenges :). Still, your comment makes me think I should try friction shifting sometime.

Well, I'm also half-deaf-- and my drive-side ear is the dead one-- so trimming while riding through traffic is... well... extremely difficult for me.

But I do appreciate the mechanical simplicity and repairability of friction shifting hardware. There is simply nothing to break in a friction shifter. But that slippery slope led to the purchase of an SS bike. :D

my Grip shifter has 2 cables Pulling in both directions , so always works .. Shifter sequencing in the back Hub.

I have derailleur bikes too . there the FD with a friction shifter works so well , I never seen a reason to use STI.
Ka thunk , Ka thunk throws

You may like them , To Each Their Own.. I fix bikes with them , an acquired Taste..

this is why i switched to linux 11 years ago.

after switching to indexed shifting in the 90s i have never looked back. i'm not a fan of trimming and it's nice to see shimano do away with it on ultegra and dura ace. the di2 bikes i've test ridden are sweet and di2 with an igh makes a lot of sense (igh hubs are not my thing, however).

Never seen the Di2 Alfine 11, did see a UK tourist last summer with the Versa 11 speed Mechanical Brifter.

That's why I like SRAM triggers;they use two thumb levers which are easy to use with thick gloves or even mittens.

Yeah, I like that design a lot. Definitely what I prefer for flat-bars by a long shot.

I kept downtube friction shifters on my 2 classic steel bikes from the 80s, but I paired them with 10 speed cassette wheels, one Campy the other Shimano. Guess what, they shift flawlessly and silently too. I still have the original Campy NR derailleur on one and SR on the other.

10 speed (and other) cassettes have much better shifting performance than the old freewheels ever did due to the ramps and profiles on the teeth and better chains. Just a touch of the shifter puts me in the next gear either way, and I can always multi shift too with a swing of the lever.

I have all the systems, friction, indexing, and integrated, of the three I like indexing the best because it shifts faster then integrated and it can be converted to friction mode, I find integrated shifting to be about as fast as friction so no advantage in that department between the two. Indexing require more frequent adjusting that can be painstaking to keep things working exactly, whereas friction is simple and doesn't require exacting or frequent adjustments. Friction opens up more door for usable parts like mixing derailleurs, shifters and cassettes whereas with indexing you have to get indexing compatible parts even though they can be made to work in friction mode. With indexing if you derailleur, derailleur hanger, shifter, cable and chain gets damaged you can't shift whereas with friction you can usually get it to work if not fully at least partially and if all else fails you can shift it by kicking it! With integrated shifting you can't get it work if your drive train gets damaged, and parts are more expensive, most of the time cannot be repaired in the field, and won't last as long.

Due to each kinds unique personality I like friction the best due to it's simplicity and is what I use on my touring bike and couple of road bikes, however I do like indexing because it does snap into gear faster then any system made to date and is fairly cheap and easy enough to work on but it could become useless if some part of the drive train is damaged. Integrated I like the least! It's too finicky, chances are very high you're not going to be able to repair in the field, cost to repair or replace is very high, and it doesn't shift any faster then friction (once you know how to shift a friction system), but it is convenient to have the shifter located in the brake lever.

Yes, that's a good point. With the advent of Hyperglide, really, in the mid-80s or somewhere around there, shifting really made a huge jump in performance. Indexing further refined it, but the gains were really more oriented toward sport riding and racing, so while still performance gains, they weren't as valuable to the recreational cyclist, perhaps, as Hyperglide was.

I did not exactly drop indexed for friction, but when I built up my current commuter, I decided to go with Suntour barcons because I had a nice set handy. My road bike has Ultegra indexed bar-end shifters and they're nice but the Suntours work very well. I don't miss the indexing, friction shifting on a Hyperglide cassette with pinned and ramped chainrings is pretty sweet.

I prefer indexed, but friction is fine with me. I don't plan to convert any of my too-many bikes, either from or to friction.