Quote Originally Posted by redmustardseed View Post
I've decided to buy the bike - so looking forward to a bike that fits and figure I'll either adjust to or love the bar ends.
Yay! I had missed this thread, but when I purchased my Trek 520, I was very reluctant to have bar ends. I had had bad experiences with down tube shifters, and figured these would be the same. Totally different. I now love them so much I only have one bike without them (haven't wanted to retrofit it yet). Sometimes I plan a little ahead on shifting if I might need to brake at the same time, but that seems to come pretty naturally for me (and it's a rare situation anyway). I love being able to tell by feel what gear I'm in without having to take my eyes off the road, and the reliability. DH and I have both had lots of failed brifters, and they are so expensive to replace I doubt we'll go back to them since they've never shifted as precisely for me!