John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
I read this thread and am amazed at the number of riders who are in
such remote, mission critical situations with their bikes that the
added reliability of bar-ends over integrated brake/shifters is a big
factor. Wow, are you guys all doing unsupported tours across Societ
Central Asia or something?

Well, I've done unsupported touring across the Dakotas. It's about the
same!

In my mind, repairability is valuable for any ride that gets me more
than five miles from home. Come to think of it, repairability is
valuable in almost anything. I suppose if a device literally never,
ever breaks down, I wouldn't care about this - but that's certainly not
true of STI.

I have one friend whose brifters locked up on him. It took us an hour
of fussing and flushing to get them working. I have another family
member who had annoying problems with hers (refusing to stay in low
gear without "double pumping", a pain on super-steep hills). I have a
third friend whose brand new touring bike locked up its right STI just
before she left on a week-long tour. We got it working somehow, but
that hardly instills confidence.

- Frank Krygowski