I have Thumbies + Shimano bar-end shifters on my mixte and love love love them. I'm not using drop bars on there, but was nervous about shifting my hands to barcons when I'm trying to balance the bike with the bobike kid seat and follow-me tandem on the back. I didn't want grip or trigger shifters for aesthetic reasons. They've proven to be the perfect solution and work beautifully. The Falcons from Velo Orange look like an even more affordable way of doing it if you don't mind not having indexed shifting (which I know some people prefer anyway!)