>>1013092Friction shifters are nice and reliable when dirty. STI is non-serviceable when they break, and they don't hold up in the ultra-fine moondust we get around here when it doesn't rain for months.
Also, getting MTB front derailleurs to work with STI sucks - hacks to re-route the cable or eccentric pulleys to adjust the cable pull ratio are really the only way to get it to work. And road front derailleurs are shaped wrong for 44t outer rings.
I've tried all the hacks, and barend shifters are simple and work great. Gevenalle's brake levers with the bar-end mounts on the levers are really nice, and now I can mix & match road and mountain derailleurs from different fuckin' decades without worrying if my shifters will work or not.
Simply put, with this setup, I spend more time riding and less time with the bike in the stand in the garage.
